


Better Than Hunting

by Flameo_Hotman



Series: Better Than Hunting AU [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Better Than Hunting AU, Breif Zuko/Lee Chen(OC), Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Dragon Zuko, I just been informed implied blow jobs may fall under M and not T, M/M, OC death, Panic Attacks, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Rating has been updated, Slow Burn, That includes wolves, Wolf Warrior Sokka, Zhao is a creep, Zuko doesn't trust that food, Zuko will pet all the fluffy animals, he deserved it, iroh has murder on his mind, is it canabolism if you were a drgon when it happened, no one will mourn him, protctive iroh, shapeshifter AU, zhao dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 41,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21768829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameo_Hotman/pseuds/Flameo_Hotman
Summary: Zuko had heard rumors that warriors from the Southern Water Tribe can turn into wolves, but he doesn't believe these rumors. A week later he is walking through the woods, hunting because he refuses to eat turtle ducks, and he meets a large white wolf, who he quickly befriends. Little did he know that the rumors were true, and he had already met that wolf. When the wolf had thrown a boomerang at him.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Better Than Hunting AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582612
Comments: 679
Kudos: 2537





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EVERYONE LOOK AT THE FANTASTIC FANART MARIDARKMOON-ART MADE FOR ME  
> https://maridarkmoon-art.tumblr.com/post/618912926235066368/for-flameo-hotman-in-honor-ending-better-than
> 
> Morn_Naunkanok on Instagram also made fanart!  
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CFgT8cJA-do/?igshid=9xzj5z5ph95e

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

“The rumors said that we would have to fight warriors who could turn into wolves, Lieutenant,” Zuko growled as he turned to face the man. “The Southern Tribe only had one warrior, and he was definitely human. The closest thing to these so-called warrior wolves was a pack of wolf pups hiding behind the woman.”

Lt. Jee answered Zuko by reasoning, “The warriors from the rumors might have just been wolves that they trained for battle. Those wolf pups are probably just the newest batch, sir.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the man, before turning away to gaze out at the water. But even he had to admit that made sense, or at least more sense than shape-shifting warrior wolves. The rumors had to have come from somewhere. It wasn’t like he had been looking forward to getting the chance to see how he would fare in a fight against one.

It wasn’t like he had spent the past few months since hearing the rumors wondering what being able to shift into an animal form would be like… To turn into a creature and not have to give a care about his human worries.

If everyone could, he wondered what he would have turned into?

Knowing his luck he would turn into a turtle duck and find himself getting turned into a stew, he thought to himself with a scowl. Not that he thought there was anything wrong with turtle ducks. They were his favorite animal, and they made him think of his mother. Though Agni willing no one would ever know that.

No, it was that Zuko’s father would have probably been angry that his son, and the heir to the Dragon’s Throne, could turn into a turtle duck. It would be better if he could turn into something respectable like a fierce wolf.

For a moment he thought of the dragon’s, even better than a wolf, but he banished that thought from his mind thinking about all of the ways that could go wrong. Other fire benders would probably try to hunt or challenge him for the glory of killing him. He didn’t want to think about that, or how his Agni Kai would have ended up going down in a world like that.

But it didn’t matter because the rumors had been proven to be false and no one could change their form from human to creature.

He tore his eyes away from that water and growled.

He had more _important_ things to worry about.

He had to capture the Avatar, who, as it had turned out, was just some _kid_ . Sure it was great the guy wasn’t dead, and that meant Zuko actually had a shot at going home. But he was a _kid_ for spirit’s sake!

He was grateful at whatever spirits were looking out for him because a kid would be so much _easier_ to capture than a fully realized Avatar. He would actually be going home and all because he had been in the right place at the right time.

Huh, maybe he really did have the spirits to thank.

Right now, however, Zuko had to first deal with getting repairs for his ship the Dragon's Claw, and hopefully this time that vile worm slug Zhao wouldn't elect to supply his ship with more turtle duck meat. Just like he did every single time they came through one of his ports.

Zuko refused to eat turtle ducks because they represented one of the few good things about his childhood.

With any luck, Commander Zhao wouldn't be at the naval base while they were there.

However, luck had not been on his side and really Zuko should have prayed to the spirits. At least they seemed more helpful than the fickle flame known as luck.

There were a lot of reasons that he didn’t like the worm slug, turtle duck stew being chief among them, but he had more valid reasons as well to hate the man.

Like how the man took a sick perverse pleasure in the pain of others…

It was sick and Zhao was sick, and Zuko would never forget when he had been first made to learn that lesson.

It had been a few months into his banishment, and he had wandered off from his uncle wanting a break from the man’s infinite wisdom when Zhao, who had still been a captain at the time, had found and cornered him.

He remembered the way the man had looked at him like he was prey and the chill that had gone down his spine.

Zhao had smirked at him and leaned down so that his lips brushed against his good ear and whispered, “I was there when the Fire Lord gave you your scar. It suits you nicely, Prince Zuko. Just like your screams did… Did you hear me laughing when your father did that? You screaming is one of my greatest treasures, _my_ Prince.”

Zuko was not afraid of Zhao. He wasn’t.

And he never told his uncle about the encounter. No instead, Zuko had resolved to be more vigilant and not let that happen again.

He was not afraid of Zhao, but Agni damn it, he was wary of the man.

And when he found himself sitting with his uncle being offered tea by the man, Zuko knew better than to drink it.

He didn’t trust a man that freely admitted to enjoying the sounds of a child screaming out in pain with anything, and he had no intention of learning anything more about the commander.

And so what if he had shouted and kicked the table over, before challenging the vile worm slug to an Agni Kai? He was the _Crowned Prince of the Fire Nation,_ and banished or not he would not let _Zhao_ of all people push him around and try to keep him from one day going home!

_He would not be made a_ **_fool_ ** _of!_

And when he had defeated Zhao in their Agni Kai? Well, it was only natural that he had felt a sense of smug pleasure at putting the man in his place.

But Zuko knew that he would have to remain even more vigilant from now on. The Commander was not one to respond honorably to defeat from anyone, let alone at the hands of Zuko, who the man so enjoyed tormenting.

Zuko _knew_ that the worm slug would retaliate.

The Dragon's Claw was stocked with turtle ducks, and Zuko was more than angry.

He didn't understand how the man had come to know about his refusal to eat turtle ducks. But the man must have found out from someone. One of his men must have said something, probably complaining to another naval officer that Zuko was so spoiled and pampered that he insisted on being a picky eater like a petulant child.

It wasn’t that Zuko picky! He just had _standards_ that included not eating what was to him the equivalent of a beloved childhood pet! He wouldn't expect his men to eat a cat owl or ferret dog.

Of course, Zuko was too prideful to explain why he refused to eat any dish with turtle duck meat in it. He couldn’t let people know of his shameful weakness.

After his failure on Kyoshi, Zuko needed some time away from his crew. The Dragon's Claw would be fine for a few hours without him. So he gathered together his hunting supplies and headed into the nearby forest with a small prayer to Agni that he'd actually find something during his hunt, which was a rare feat but he figured that his newfound faith in the spirits would yield him better results than hoping for luck.

Azula was born lucky. He was lucky to be born. And maybe he had the spirits to thank for his birth as well.

Or at least something that Fire Sage Shyu had once told him something to make him suspect as much.

The sage had pulled Zuko aside after Ozai had been crowned Fire Lord and led the child into a side room, stating that he needed to tell Zuko something.

Zuko remembered the confusion he’d felt, as the old man spoke.

“The night before you were born, I had a vision of you as a great black dragon sitting on the dragon’s throne. You will become our greatest protector, and you will forever bear the mark of his destiny on your face.”

The Fire Sage had never spoken of the vison ever again, and if Shyu had told him about the vision two years later when he had been banished, Zuko would have assumed the man had been trying to comfort him with empty words about his scar.

Still, it seemed now that the spirits were guiding him towards his destiny now.

They have brought him to the South Pole on the day of the Avatar’s return.

It must have been a sign that they would aid him in his quest to return home and reclaim his honor.

An hour into his hunt he found a burrow that was home to three fox hares. 

Agni had smiled upon him, further strengthening Zuko's resolve to trust in the spirits. Azula could have all the luck she wanted. Zuko would gladly take the spirits being on his side.

Even if the fox hares were kind of cute in the way most small creatures were, Zuko made quick work of turning them into jerky that he could enjoy at a later time. Zuko would not have to eat the turtle duck stew that the chef was preparing for dinner tonight.

It was as he reveled in that happy thought that he deposited the fresh fox hare jerky into the pouch he'd brought with him, just for this purpose, and deciding that he wasn’t ready to head back to the ship, that Zuko sat down with his back against a tree to enjoy some of the not-turtle-duck-meat. 

It was as he was bringing a strip of jerky to his mouth that he heard the sound of an animal to his right.

Zuko leaped to his feet and turned to look at it.

He froze as he spotted a larger arctic wolf staring at him from about ten feet downwind from him.

Golden eyes met with artic blue.

Sure, Zuko had seen wolves before but never one this large or beautiful. It was the size of a shirshu and had some seriously soft-looking fur. That thing was insanely fluffy looking.

So help him Agni, he was going to pet this creature even if it killed him!

The fire bender smiled at the creature with that soft smile he reserved only for animals as he began to speak, hoping to placate the wolf, "Look at you. Someone knows how to take care of their fur. It’s beautiful."

The wolf let out a low warning growl as Zuko took a step towards it.

So Zuko stopped and threw the piece of jerky he'd been about to eat at the creature's paws, saying, "Fox hare jerky. I actually just caught the fox hares that came from half an hour ago. So it’s still fresh." 

The white-furred wolf sniffed at the piece of flame dried meat for a moment, before it decided that the offering was safe and ate it. 

Zuko continued, "I can't give you all of the jerky sadly. If I did, then it would defeat the purpose of hunting. I don't want to eat the turtle duck stew the chef is making."

The wolf cocked its big, fluffy head as Zuko sat back down and tossed it another piece of jerky, which the wolf ate.

"I don’t eat turtle duck. I used to have a flock of them as pets, back before I was banished. That and they make me think of my mom, and I miss her. We used to sit in the palace garden and feed them together. Even after she was gone, I still fed them every day. I wish I knew what happened to her. One day she was there, and the next she was gone, and no one would tell me anything. It was like she never existed in the first place…"

The wolf's eyes seemed to soften, and it padded over to him and sat down.

The urge to card his hands through that beautiful fur was almost more than he could bear.

"Can I pet you? I've had a crazy week. The Avatar is back and I had to fight in another Agni Kai, but I won this time around…" Zuko suddenly felt the weight of everything that had happened weighing him down, but wait, no. That was actually just the wolf laying its head down in his lap. Zuko smiled, taking that to mean yes.

And spirits was that fur soft!

"It was meant to be an impossible task…" Zuko began telling the story of his banishment to the wolf. He talked for hours about what had happened, about his anger and hurt. The fear that he would never go home.

And the wolf listened as Zuko talked himself raw. Listened as Zuko pet him. Licked his face when he began to cry. 

The wolf honest to Agni growled when Zuko had claimed that he had deserved what had happened, and when the time for Zuko to return to his ship finally came the wolf looked conflicted about something. 

Zuko threw him a few more pieces of jerky and began the trek back to the Dragon's Claw.

That night the Zuko slept better than he had in years.

* * *

Meanwhile not that far away from The Dragon’s Claw, the large white wolf padded it’s way back into the camp that currently housed its sister and friend, the Avatar, where he shifted forms into a human male dressed in blue.

The wolf would not be finding sleep that night, too caught up in racing thoughts about a prince who had been hurt in ways that he had never imagined anyone’s father would ever hurt their children. Sokka had known that the Fire Lord was evil, but he hadn’t thought the man would harm his own child.

Ozai was far worse than he had ever imagined before, and he worried not just about how Aang was meant to survive a fight with the man.

He was worried about the child that had been burned by the man.

He was now worried about Prince Zuko.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

The Dragon's Claw was currently at docked off the coast of a rather large fire nation settlement so the banished prince could purchase more food for his ship. And as it was, locating a butcher who had something that wasn’t exclusively turtle duck meat was easy. 

The one he found had plenty of moo sow meat in stock, which after some bartering he was able to purchase for a fair price.

“Take this back to the ship. I’ll meet you there once I find my Uncle,” He ordered, before turning to glance around looking for either a tea shop or one of those pai sho parlors that his uncle seemed to find himself in with an alarming frequency.

But then he spotted Zhao not too far down the street, six soldiers with him. To make things even worse, Commander Zhao was already staring at him with a smirk when the prince had locked eyes on him.

Zuko really did have the worst luck.

To make matters worse, if Zuko fled then Zhao won in whatever mind game it was that they were playing, and if Zhao won then he would become more insufferable than he already was.

So Zuko turned back to the butcher's stall and purchased a large slab of dried meat that must have once been an unusually fat picken. It would make a good snack for later and provided if he was lucky, a way to retreat without being defeated.

It would look casual, and Zuko would be able to avoid interacting with the vile worm slug he was.

"Prince Zuko," Commander Zhao called out, "I heard about your failure on Kyoshi Island."

Zuko winced as he thought, _ "Right, lucky to be born. Not born lucky." _

He sighed, looked over at Zhao, and said curtly, "Commander Zhao." Then he accepted the bag of picken meat and turned to walk away. 

Now that he'd acknowledged the man he could walk away without it counting as an insult or fleeing.

"We should talk about what happened on Kyoshi. We can do so over dinner, on my ship The Hawk's Talon. Just the two of us, Prince Zuko." 

Then the soldiers surrounded Zuko, cutting off his avenue of escape and he would have to push one of the men out of his way if he wanted to walk away. But by doing so he'd commit an offense against Zhao, and Zuko did not want to find himself having to pay some sort of penance to the sadist worm slug. 

So with a great deal of annoyance, the teen turned to face the man once more.

"The Avatar got away on Kyoshi. There is nothing more to tell. As for dinner, I'll have to respectfully decline your offer."

Zhao, however, stepped forward putting mere inches between them, coming much farther into Zuko's personal space than was acceptable by any measure. 

Though not close enough to be touching, and bent down to whisper into the banished prince's good ear, voice cold and threatening, "So, you'd rather be aware of what I'm planning to do to you, once I finally get my hands on you? Is that it? If so then I look forward to that moment all the more, Prince Zuko." 

Following that spine chilling delivery, the man stepped back from the teen with a lecherous smirk, that twisted up into a wide hungry smile when Zuko felt his blood run cold and fear flash across his face. It had only been for a fraction of a second, but the vile worm slug had seen it.

Zuko spotted his uncle not too far off, walking out of what looked to be a tea shop, and felt relief wash over him at the sight of his escape.

"I need to speak with my uncle, Commander. Excuse me." And with that, he pushed past Zhao and his soldiers, skin-crawling where he brushed against Zhao. 

His heart pounding in a panicked rhythm as he made for his uncle, who as soon as he'd reached, he told, "Uncle, I need you to escort me back to The Dragon's Claw, right now." 

Iroh had taken one look at his nephew and nodded. He could tell that something had spooked the boy, but he knew better than to ask. Zuko would only tell him if and when he was ready. Until then, all asking would achieve was delaying the conversation by an even greater length of time.

Five minutes later they were back on the ship.

Ten minutes later and Zuko was taking off saying something about going hunting.

Fifteen minutes later the fire bender was safely in the forest.

He heard a branch snap behind him.

Zuko spun around ready to strike what he feared was Zhao coming to make good on his threat but instead found himself face to face with the artic blue eyes of a large white wolf, and his fear and panic washed away.

"Oh, it’s just you," He breathed in visible relief and offered the creature a piece of dried picken meat when the wolf had cocked its head, as though asking what was wrong.

It had eaten the offered picken meat and then licked his face in an attempt to comfort him. 

It worked, and Zuko began to explain what had happened to the creature as the two of them sat down together.

“I hate Commander Zhao. He’s a creep,” Zuko began, a wave of exhaustion overtaking him.

“Not long after I was banished, he cornered me while I was alone, and he told me how he enjoyed hearing me scream when Father scarred me. I was only thirteen… What kind of person enjoys the sound of a child’s screams of pain? I know fighting an Agni Kai marks me as a legal adult in the Fire Nation, but that’s just sick.”

Zuko paused for a moment, pressing the unblemished half of his face into the soft fur of the wolf for comfort, before continuing, “I think he’s been trying to drug me this past year. He keeps offering me food and drink with this weird hungry look on his face… I don’t like being looked at like that. Like I’m prey waiting to be caught in a trap.”

“I beat him in an Agni Kai last time I saw him, but he’s dishonorable when he loses. And I’m sure he’s planning to do something to me. He actually said something about it in the market today. It was unsettling.”

“It actually frightened me, and he saw it. Which makes the whole situation even worse. I don’t think you wouldn't have liked the way he was looking at me. You would have done that growing thing you do when I tell you that someone hurt me."

The wolf growled, and Zuko gave a small chuckle before his face fell again and he pressed on.

"Zhao looked… He looked hungry. Like he wanted to eat me alive… I didn't like being looked at like that." He finished with a shudder as the wolf snarled and curled protectively around the fire bender, who was more than happy to cuddle the creature and change subject.

"Your fur really is beautiful," Zuko said as he scratched behind one of those big fluffy white ears.

"You know growing up in the palace, I didn't get the chance to make any friends. I didn't get to go to school like other children because my father was ashamed of how I was subpar at everything. It was true, but that didn’t make me feel any less alone.”

“Azula wasn't though. She is a fire bending prodigy and she always knows the right thing to say and who to say it to. She got to go to the Fire Nation Academy for girls, and she was popular and made friends. I did have a team of tutors though, since I was the firstborn, and when father became Fire Lord I wasn't just a prince, but the crowned prince of the Fire Nation.”

“I mean I was close to my cousin Lu Ten, but he died in the war when I was eleven…" Zuko's face screwed up in confusion, before he added, "My mother disappeared the same night we found out… The same night that my grandfather Fire Lord Azulon died. I- I don't actually know what to think about that…"

And what more could he say?

"Actually weird as it sounds, I think I finally realized what she was talking about that night."

And so Zuko explained as best he could how his father came to be told to kill Zuko by the boy's own grandfather, to teach Ozai a lesson. How he and his sister had overheard it, and how his mother had ended up being told about the situation. 

And then Fire Lord Azulon died, and Ursa came to Zuko's room to say her weird goodbyes. 

After that, she vanished and Ozai became the new Fire Lord.

"You don't think she had anything to do with my grandfather's death… Do you?" The fire bender asked, in thought.

The wolf flicked an ear at him and made a chuffing sound, snuggling even closer. Zuko wasn't quite sure what that even meant, outside of being comfort. And for the next hour or two Zuko just enjoyed cuddling with the creature.

If he had fallen asleep at one point, then no one but him and the wolf would ever know.

A few days later Zuko found the water bender girl's necklace at a prison for earth benders and he put it in his room for safekeeping until he could find a way to make it useful.

Part of Zuko had expected to run into his friend the wolf again when he went looking for the earth benders that took his uncle, but he didn't. 

Spirits willing he was able to free his uncle and find information on the Avatar and his friends, Katara and Sokka, in a nearby village. 

There was only one problem…

The Avatar was going to the Fire Nation to visit the Temple of the Fire Sages.

It was just the teen's luck that things ended up going from good to bad, and then bad to worse.

The banished prince took a moment to pray to Agni that he wasn't about to get his men killed when they got to the blockade, and thankfully not a single one even so much as suffered an injury.

The hope he'd felt when he thought that he was going to successfully capture the Avatar was short-lived when Aang had broken free and promptly escaped into the sanctuary. The doors slamming and sealing themselves shut behind the Avatar.

His fear channeled into anger, Zuko turned and shouted at the traitorous sage, demanding that he explain why he had helped the Avatar, and when the man started talking about how the sages had a duty to the Avatar, Zuko realized  _ who  _ the man was.

It was  _ Shyu _ . The same Fire Sage who had taken him aside and told him about his vision concerning Zuko becoming a great Fire Lord one day.

He felt betrayed somehow.

But before he had a chance to think further on the subject, he heard the clapping and Zuko turned around greeted none other than Commander Zhao surrounded by six fire bending soldiers. One of which came up behind the prince, who was very clearly trespassing on Fire Nation soil despite his banishment, and cuffed him while the Commander was gloating.

"You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed." Zuko hissed.

"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." Zhao smirked smugly before Zuko was suddenly shoved at the sadist creep, whose grin was now that same hungry one from the market as he wrapped his arms around the teen's waist and said, "Looks like I've  _ finally  _ got my hands on you know, Prince Zuko." 

The hate-filled glare suddenly dropped from his face and was suddenly replaced with a look of pure abject horror at those words.

" _ Well that doesn't sound rapey at all," _ Sokka chimed in sarcastically, and it was like a door holding back most of Zuko's panic was hiding behind had been suddenly unlocked.

And just like that Zuko exploded into a panicked fight and flight.

He cracked his head back as hard as he could, and snapped one leg at the nearest soldier and caught him in the gut, right as Zhao shouted and dropped him. 

Zuko twisted part way to the ground and using his other leg sent a flaming kick at another soldier, and he was breathing a jet of flames at the next.

He fought like a feral animal, and the moment there was a clear path to the stairs Zuko bolted for it, hands still bound behind him.

The Avatar was utterly forgotten in favor of reaching the safety of his uncle.

Not long after that, he'd made it to his boat and began to awkwardly manage to sail away without the use of his hands and it now seemed that everyone else was now evacuating the temple seeing as that the island was quite suddenly covered in lava. He spotted even the Avatar flying away on his bison, which made him feel relieved that Zhao had failed to capture the kid.

He still had a chance at going home.

Soon he arrived back on The Dragon's Claw, and Iroh pulled him into a hug and got the cuffs off of his nephew, who now seemed even more on edge than he'd been at the market.

Iroh sighed as Zuko fled into the ship. He was going to need to get to the bottom of this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

When they had finished setting up camp Sokka made a quick excuse about hunting and raced off into the forest, before shifting out of his human form and into a large white wolf. 

Once he was about halfway to the port town he began sniffing about for something that was very much not prey because he had to know if Prince Jerkbender was alright after what had happened at the temple. 

When Sokka thought back to what had happened and what the fire bender had told him about Zhao, his fur bristled with the rage and anger that flooded his veins

"I'm pretty sure he's been trying to drug me this past year." And "He cornered me so he could tell me face to face how much he had enjoyed the sound of my screaming when father gave me my scar." 

Zuko was right. Zhao was a creep, and what had happened at the temple made Sokka feel both sick and like tearing the sick creep's throat out with his teeth, regardless of whatever form the warrior wolf might be in when Sokka next encountered him.

The wolf didn't think he would ever be able to rid himself of the sight of Zuko's face distorted with fear and terror as Zhao grabbed him, arms around his waist trapping the cuffed ponytail jerk, while he'd said, "Looks like I've finally got my hands on you, Prince Zuko."

And if that wasn't just the single creepiest thing that Sokka had ever heard, then he'd be a poodle monkey's uncle.

Every instinct in the warrior wolf had demanded that Sokka  _ kill  _ the man who thought he could threaten what _ belonged to Sokka. _

But there was no way to escape the chains holding him back. And if he had tried to shift into his wolf form, he would have almost certainly hurt or  _ killed  _ not just himself, but his sister and Shyu.

Well, that and Zuko _ did not _ belong to Sokka, so he had to settle for sarcastically saying,  _ "Well that doesn't sound rapey at all" _ to cover up the sounded and utterly possessive rage that had filled him.

But then Zuko had all but shifted himself when he suddenly resembled a feral animal in human form fighting frantically and savagely to free himself.

For a brief moment, Sokka had entertained the idea that Zuko might actually be a shifter as well, but then the non-bender had recalled that as far as anyone knew the other nations had all lost the ability to do so long ago.

So long ago, in fact, that Aang had thought people like Sokka were a myth from ages long since past. And honestly, Sokka could totally understand why, seeing as the Southern Water Tribe only had regained the ability a few decades back, starting with his father's generation.

The prevailing theory on that was the spirits had given them back their wolf warriors to try and save the few remaining water benders.

Sadly only Katara was now left.

But Zuko had been feral when he fought, and Sokka had come to the horrifying conclusion that Zuko had been holding back each time he had fought them, which was an unsettling thought. 

And while he had been relieved to spot Zuko sailing away from the temple, that had been no guarantee that Zuko had actually escaped Zhao. Sokka had wished that he'd just told his friends to slow down and follow Zuko back to The Dragon's Claw, but then he would have had to explain why he cared what happened to the guy who was hunting them.

Suddenly Sokka caught the scent of cinnamon and spiced honey that was utterly and completely _his_ the fire bender, and a few minutes of tracking the scent later, he was bounding up to the other teen and licking his startled face.

Zuko had made it out of Fire Nation waters safe and sound.

Said fire bender laughed and hugged the wolf, saying, "I'm starting to think that you're following me. You seem to turn up every time I tell my crew that I'm going hunting." 

Sokka chortled in response because Zuko couldn’t have been more wrong if he tried. But spirits, that thought was funny. However, Sokka could definitely see why the fire bender thought that. He didn't know that  _ Sokka  _ was the wolf. 

It was kind of ironic.

But then Zuko's whole demeanor changed, and the guy seemed tired and sighed in that way Sokka had come to know meant Zuko was about to say something that would leave the wolf worried about him. 

It ended up being what had happened at the temple, but when Zuko got to the part about the horror he'd felt at Zhao's words, he continued on to tell Sokka about what the creep had said to him word for word at the market, and once again Sokka felt sick and horrified.

"The relief I felt when I finally got back to my ship and Uncle got those cuffs off of me was unbelievable." Zuko sighed before he paused his petting of Sokka's fur.

A moment later he said in a small broken voice, "Sometimes I think that Uncle and you are the only ones that care about me anymore. Because if I died tomorrow, the two of you would be the only ones to miss me… I think my uncle might be the only person in my family that actually loves me anymore…”

“If I do die, promise me that you'll watch over him… The way you do for me." 

And if that wasn't somehow the most heartbreaking thing that Zuko had ever said to him, then Sokka didn't know what was. So he whimpered at the guy before he began lapping at Zuko's face until the fire bender was laughing and smiling again.

That laugh was somehow the single most beautiful thing that Sokka had ever heard. And when Zuko opened his mouth to speak once more, it was with a smile, and about happier subjects like his uncle, pai sho, and tea.

Then he laughed and said, "In the Fire Nation, if you haven't fought in an Agni Kai, you become a legal adult at sixteen.”

“When I finally did Uncle actually hired a lady of the night for me, which was actually really awkward because I didn't find out until after I came back from my crew taking me out to a tavern to get me drunk and celebrate. So when I came back to the ship I wasn't expecting to find someone in my room." 

Then Zuko groaned, rubbing his face. "And when she tried to kiss me I blurted out that I liked guys and then I threw up on her! I felt horrible about it! She wasn't ugly or anything, but I was drunk, and she left my ship rightfully angry about the whole situation.”

“She was hired to do a job, not get puked on. Uncle made sure she got her money though, and he never hired another one for me again. He also didn't let the men take me to another tavern ever again. It’s kind of funny looking back on it though."

Sokka looked at the fire bender resting against his side and cocked his head. Did Zuko,  _ Prince Zuko _ , just come out to a random wolf as gay?

Sokka actually full-on checked him out, following that reveal of information. And to his shock, Sokka realized that if it wasn't for that awful ponytail, Zuko would actually be pretty good looking…

If there was hair to go with that ponytail he would look utterly stunning.

Zuko still was the  _ enemy  _ though, and Sokka was not about to hit on the guy  _ hunting them. _

But then Zuko had to go and open his pretty mouth again and say, "Weirdly enough I actually think that one of the Avatar's friends is kind of hot. I got his name from one of the villagers living in the Hei Bai Forest.”

“His name is Sokka, but he's Water Tribe and a guy… If it ever got back to my father, he would probably never let me come home, Avatar or no Avatar. Because even if gay marriage is legal in the Fire Nation, but, as Crown Prince, I have a duty to my people to one day provide my family with an heir to the throne." 

Sokka listened halfheartedly to  his the fire bender continued to babble, all the while thinking  _ "Wait? What?  _ **_Zuko_ ** _ thinks I'm hot?" _

But soon enough the two had to part ways again, and Sokka returned to camp in a daze.

And of course, only a few days later Katara had to go and steal a water bending scroll from pirates.

Yeah, fighting Zuko wasn't incredibly awkward now that he couldn’t help watching the way Zuko lithely twisted and ducked like a stream of water as he fought.

He couldn't get what the prince had said only days before out of his head, and he was going to get himself _killed_ with how _spirits damned_ _distracting_ Zuko was.

It was so not fair. Zuko thought Sokka was hot, and the fire bender didn't seem to be distracted when he fought Sokka!

And when Team Avatar escaped, Sokka was still caught up in his thoughts about the whole situation with a sinking sense of dread when he realized that he actually might just so happen to have a crush on Prince Zuko.

* * *

Trekking back to The Dragon's Claw took the better part of the day, and Zuko spent the whole time worried that his friend the wolf would pop out of the woods at any moment and come running up to him.

What if his men hurt the wolf? What if they didn't and the wolf started licking his face again, and then his men realized how soft-hearted their commander was?

His crew would never respect him again if they knew! They already didn't respect him, but that wasn't the point. The point was they would no longer fear him!

Did they fear him? They probably saw him as nothing more than a spoiled petulant prince who threw fits and screamed and yelled when his hunt for the Avatar wasn't going the way it should…

Agni, Zuko really didn't know how to dispel that notion from their minds.

Maybe he could try and be calmer when things went wrong, but no… He didn't know how to hide his fear that he might never go home behind something like that, but the spirits must have taken pity on him today because there was no sign of his friend anywhere on their journey back to the ship.

Granted he did feel a pair of eyes watching him like an eagle-hawk, and he didn't have to turn around and look to know it was his uncle. Because Uncle Iroh had been doing that ever since Zuko had come back from the temple.

Uncle was worried about him, and it reminded Zuko of his mother and how she used to worry like that. It was the way a parent was supposed to worry, Zuko realized with a bitter feeling. 

His father had never worried about him that way.

Ozai had only worried about how Zuko might make him look.

His uncle worried about him more than Ozai ever would, and that somehow made a startling amount of sense when Zuko really thought about it.

Maybe it had something to do with losing Lu Ten and Zuko needing a dad, despite having a father, and maybe it had to do with the way Zuko latched onto his uncle like a turtle duck chick with its mother after his own mother had vanished.

Maybe the how and why didn't even matter.

All Zuko knew was, he was grateful that he at least had his uncle, and that his uncle actually cared about him, and he sent up a quick prayer to the spirits to thank them for that fact.

And once they were back to port Zuko decided to try and do at least one nice thing for his uncle and the crew.

"Let's all go to the tavern." 

Startled faces snapped towards him suddenly, but Zuko was having none of that.

So he shouted at them, pretending he didn’t actually care what they thought, "If you lot don't want a free meal, that's your problem. Anyone who comes with, I'll pay for their food. It's been a long day and I'd like a meal that doesn't taste like salt preserves."

Following that he stormed off in the direction of the nearest tavern.

His men and uncle followed after a moment, as well.

So much for a wolf making Zuko look like a softie. It looks like he could do that all on his own.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn’t slept in over 40 hours when I wrote this so I was running on fumes and caffeine. Thank you again to my beta readers for making this readable. You're the real MVP!!!  
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

When the crew of The Dragon's Claw arrived in the ruined remains of Gaipan, Prince Zuko felt neither anger nor rage, but the cold fire of an insatiable need to exact _vengeance_ against those Earth Kingdom terrorists that would _dare_ to harm _his_ people.

A military outpost, Zuko would have understood, but laying waste to a town full of innocent civilians, trying to slaughter every last man, woman, and child… 

It was _unforgivable_ , and he was going to make the dirt dwellers _pay_ for their crimes.

These so-called Freedom Fighters would be wiped from the valley, with the same completeness that they had tried to subject _his_ people to.

The people that Zuko had been born to protect as their crowned prince and that same duty would carry over to when he became their Fire Lord.

It was the _duty_ of the royal family to ensure that their people were safe and well cared for, and in this instant, there had been a complete and utterly inarguable _failure_ on his father's part. 

An elderly woman raced forward and threw her arms around Private Lee Chen.

The private responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her, before asking, “Aunt Tsuna, what happened here?”

“The Freedom Fighters blew up the damn,” She answered with a sob. “We would have died if it wasn’t for the stranger who came to warn us.”

Zuko felt white-hot rage wheel up inside him at those words.

“Who are the Freedom Fighters? And where can I find them?” It wasn’t a question but rather a demand because these were **_his_ ** people and if there was a threat to them, he would remove it.

Tsuna broke away from her nephew’s embrace to look at Zuko, and when she realized who he was, she dropped to the ground before him and bowed saying, “They live in the forest and have been terrorizing us for years. We have written everyone we could think of asking for aid, but no one would listen. We even wrote to your father and his generals, my prince. But after they learned that these were children, they refused to take our pleas seriously. Please, I beg you, if there is anything that you can do to rid us of them… We know what you tried to do for the 41st, please help us.”

Zuko froze because that was knowledge that the Fire Lord had made sure to keep under lock and key. And while it was well known that he had been banished, the knowledge of how that had come to be had been kept secret to only those who had been permitted to witness the Agni Kai.

“Where did you learn that?” He hadn’t been able to keep the tension from his voice, as he asks.

The woman did not rise from where she sat bowing and answered, “There is an old man who lives here that is a disgraced noble, he witnessed the-”

“Stop!” His heart was racing, and he looked away and saw an elderly man standing not too far away. He knew that face from the man’s visits to the palace and the horror that had been in the man’s eyes moments before the Fire Lord had brought a burning hand to Zuko’s face.

The face was older and weathered from the hardships he had faced in recent years, but Zuko while he no longer could recall his name knew that face.

Zuko turned back to the woman and he had to know.

“Why was he disgraced?”

The woman finally brought her face up from the ground and looked at him curiously before saying, “He spoke out against your banishment, my prince. The stranger saved him from the Freedom Fighters.”

The Freedom Fighters who had _destroyed_ this town because not even the _Fire Lord himself_ , had cared to put a stop to what they had deemed nothing more than a group of children living in the woods and playing soldier.

And due to such obscene _negligence_ , this town had been destroyed, and as he learned it was only thanks to _the Avatar_ that these people had survived.

However, none of these people seemed to know which way the Avatar had flown off in, and for once Zuko didn't care to ask.

Not when he had far more pressing matters to _deal with._

"Uncle, I need you to stay in the village and oversee reconstruction, with the members of the crew who are not designated for battle. Lt. Jee, Private Lee Chen, gather our fighters. We are going in that forest, and we are going to drive every last one of these filthy dirt dwellers out of this valley." Zuko ordered with a steel edge to his voice that harbored no room for argument.

Lee Chen gapped and sputtered at Zuko, "But Sir? What about your quest for the Avatar-"

"This takes precedence over finding the Avatar." Zuko snarled.

" _This?_ This is far more important than tracking down some _brat_ who hid away for the past one hundred years, like some sniveling coward. He will still be there tomorrow to track and capture, but these people… _My people,_ they come first.”

“Before my pride, and _long_ before my honor. Whether I live in the palace or on the ship, the people of the Fire Nation must **_always_ **come first. I have a duty to them that not even banishment can strip from me.”

“So… If you have even an ounce of loyalty to your nation, these people, and your aunt, then Private Lee Chen, you _will_ join us while we scour the woods for these Freedom Fighters. _Am I understood?"_

"Yes, sir." The Private answered.

"Good."

And they were off into the woods after retrieving their weapons. Lee Chen being made to carry Prince Zuko's dao swords on him, for reasons unknown to the private.

Reasons that boiled down to one of the many lessons that Master Piandao had taught to Zuko when he had come to train in the way of the sword. It was also a lesson his uncle had taught Zuko through many games of pia sho.

_Never let your enemy see what makes you a threat._

And Zuko knew that while his bending made him a threat all by itself, he also understood he was by _no means a master_ of fire bending.

He was, however, a master swordsman, and to boast about _both_ his bending and fighting skills when walking into enemy territory would by no means make his enemies underestimate him.

Now was time for a different skill set, one he had learned from his mother.

Acting

If they didn't want to spend the next few months stuck here, slowly flushing out the Freedom Fighter's bit by bit, then it would be better to lure the dirt dwellers into a trap. And Zuko hoped his acting skills would be well enough to sell it.

"As soon as we get to Gaoling, we are burning that mud bender town to the ground." Zuko declared with the same savagery that General Bujing had when the man had proposed _sacrificing_ the 41st division as a _distraction_ , "I'd like to see just how those dirt dwellers like losing _their_ homes. And they won't have the Avatar to save them because he's gone north."

Lee Chen's brown eyes widened in shock at the bloodthirsty tone that had entered his commander's voice before he found his own voice. "Yes, sir."

"You seem a little green around the gills, Private." Lt. Jee jeered, playing along with Zuko's act and plan. "You've never seen a blood bath before, have you? Trust me. It’s a rush you won’t forget. Following the Prince into battle is every bit as exciting as you've been told."

Suddenly from high up in the trees came the rustling of leaves, a dozen child warriors, and four or five teenagers, who dropped from them to the ground, landing in a circle around Zuko and his men. A second later another teen dropped from the trees, only to land directly in front of Zuko with the single most cocky smile the prince had ever seen, and Zuko was filled with an intense urge to smack it right off of the other teen's face, which was mere inches from his own, as tiger hook swords were bared ready to go in for the kill at a moment's notice.

"Looks like we've found ourselves a royal little ash maker and his cronies blundering through our forest." Snarked that smug prick. "What do you guys think I should do to him?"

"Cut his head off, Jet!" Shouted a teenage girl with red stripes on her face.

"Yeah! _Kill him!"_ Shouted an actual honest to Agni child

Jet, the apparently cocky, smug, and snarky leader looked back at Zuko and chuckled darkly as he smirked. "So you're planning to burn Gaoling to the ground because we washed away a town full of your scum? It’s too bad you'll never make it there."

"We never were going to Gaoling." Zuko returned with a smirk of his own. "We didn't want to spend all week hunting you down one by one. So we made you come to us, but I didn't realize that the _great and mighty Jet_ hides behind an army of children.”

“How _brave_ of you, to let five and six year old _children_ fight your battles for you." And Zuko could tell he'd found the right thing to say, to further antagonize the smug teen, whose face contorted into pure unadulterated rage.

_"I do not!"_ Jet snapped back at the prince, whose throat was trapped between his swords. "If anyone is hiding behind anyone, then it's _you!_ Hiding behind Daddy's men, and your fire bending."

Zuko knew at that moment the perfect way to deal with the Freedom Fighter's in one fell swoop, without losing a single one of his men, or having to kill one of the _children_ Jet had brought to fight for him.

"Okay," Zuko began, "Then let's do this one on one. Just you and me, Jet. None of my men, and none of your _children_. I'll even let you choose the kind of fight. But if I win? You and your Freedom Fighters have to leave this valley for good."

Jet's smirk returned smugger than ever, as he answered, "You are so on! I choose swords, and if I win, then I get to kill you. Right in front of everyone who lived in that town." 

Just what Zuko prayed to the spirits, Jet would say. Minus the whole killing him in front of a whole town part. And then Jet stepped back, and the circle grew bigger to accommodate the fight.

"You going to need a sword, Prince Ash Maker?"

"No," Zuko said smugly, as he held out his hand. "Private Lee Chen? My dao swords if you will?"

"Yes, sir." The tall nineteen-year-old said as he handed over the swords that he had been instructed to carry until then. 

The smug smirk suddenly slipped from Jet's face at those words, and that was the moment Zuko lunged forward to attack.

As it turned out, Jet was good with his swords, but Zuko was better.

Soon, they quickly fell into a pattern of attack and dodge and then attack again. Over and over and over until, finally, Zuko managed to pin Jet to the ground with his swords crossed across the guy's throat.

"Looks like I win, Jet. You really should challenge a _master_ _swordsman_ to a _sword fight,"_ Zuko grinned and then rose back to his feet and stepped back from Jet.

"Now keep your word. You and your Freedom Fighters are to leave this valley. Anyone who comes back will be _killed_."

"I _hate_ you!" Jet growled at Zuko before he turned to his fighters and shouted, "Alright! Pack up your shit. We're leaving in ten!" But then as he began the short walk to one of the trees he passed by Zuko and hissed low and quiet. "That town used to be my home before you _ash makers_ burned it down and moved in." 

And then he was gone, back into the trees. Leaving Zuko with those parting words rattling around in his head and a sick feeling in his gut. And the horrible thought that he had just challenged someone to a fight and banished them from their home. Just like his father had done to him nearly three years ago.

Not piece for piece, but the similarities between both events horrified Zuko, and he longed for his friend the wolf.

A single beat passed before Zuko turned to his own men and ordered, "We will come back out here tomorrow and burn every last hideout of theirs that we can find. For now, let's head back into town and tell everyone the good news."

The people of the town, _his_ people, cheered and celebrated at learning Zuko had banished the Freedom Fighters from the valley. That they were finally free of that menace Jet, and this part of it felt right.

It reminded him of why he had gone into the woods in the first place. He was doing his duty and helping _his_ people. 

This was the right thing to do. 

Doing something to make his people feel happy and safe… 

He could do that. This was the reason he was trying to go home. 

This was why he had to go home…

He had to get rid of Fire Lord Ozai, to keep his people safe from another incident like the Freedom Fighters from happening to his people again.

For now, however, Zuko threw himself into helping to rebuild the village and even learned the right way to use a hammer, and in the end, it only took two weeks to rebuild.

Once they were done the villagers treated Zuko and his crew to a feast, and even told him that when the Avatar had flown away on his bison he had gone North. Just like Zuko had pretended during his act in the forest.

Speaking of the forest, despite Zuko's daily walks through them, he had seen neither hyde nor hair of the wolf, whom he had come to realize was the only friend that he had ever had aside from his late cousin.

That night they had set sail for the north, hoping to catch up with the Avatar, but Zuko stood alone on an empty deck, staring out at the dark blue waves of the sea, so unlike the water in the pond back home at the palace but calm and familiar all the same. 

Both blue like his melancholy at missing the wolf, who he was being to think was gone forever. 

Lost either by distance or perhaps a hunter's trap. 

Though Private Lee Chen had become friendly with him ever since he'd dueled with Jet because somehow Zuko had said or done something during all of that to convince the second youngest aboard The Dragon's Claw that Zuko _actually cared_ about someone other than himself. 

All of his men seemed to behave slightly differently around him now. Almost like they may _actually_ be beginning to _respect_ him.

Suddenly Zuko wasn't alone, as Lee Chen had found him staring out at the tides.

"Are you okay, sir?"

Zuko managed to tear his eyes away from the dark ocean water, hypnotic in it's mysterious and yet dangerous beauty, to look at the tall brown-eyed private, and paused to think. 

Was he okay? Could he open up to Lee Chen in the same way he could the wolf? He could try…

"Yes and no…" Zuko sighed before he looked away from not blue, but brown eyes

A warm hand settled on his shoulder, urging him on.

"On the one hand, we did something really good in Gaipan. We got rid of a threat and helped our people heal from their wounds… But my only friend in the whole world is a wolf, that I met in the woods not too long after my Agni Kai with Commander Zhao… And I haven’t seen him in weeks." 

He supposed that this might serve to scare the other off, and into leaving him alone to his misery, and if not, then Zuko could talk about his worries about where the wolf might be to someone.

Lee Chen was quiet for a moment before he found his words. 

“That's rough, buddy… I'm sorry, but did you say a wolf? How did that even happen?"

"Yes, a wolf," Zuko confirmed. "I was out hunting when he found me. So I gave him some fox hare jerky, and the rest was history. He just kept showing up like that, and I finally had someone to talk to… I didn’t have to keep everything inside. So he became my friend. The only other friend I ever had was my cousin, but as you already know, he died during the Siege of Ba Sing Se."

Lee Chen turned his eyes to gaze out at the water now himself. Brown eyes meeting with the same ocean blue that met with Zuko's golden ones.

"You know you can talk to your uncle right? You can even talk to me if you ever need to."

"There are some things I can't tell anyone… Not you. Not my uncle…" Zuko said quietly. "Things I can only tell someone who doesn't even have the ability to tell anyone else. Things I can _only_ tell the wolf."

"Like what?" Brown eyes asked, turning from the blue ocean to look into gold eyes which had just done the same. 

Lee Chen looked like he was filled with worry, and somehow Zuko felt bad that he was the cause of it, as his mind raced through all of the things that he could never tell any living human…

_Zhao…_

And what he was now sure the man intended to do to him.

_Sokka…_

And the treasonous crush he harbored for the Water Tribe Warrior.

_Ozai…_

And how Zuko was planning to commit patricide to protect his people from a man he was beginning to realize was a monster.

As brown eyes stared into gold, Zuko felt an odd nervous flutter in his stomach, like there was a flickering flame trapped inside that begged to be let loose so it could turn into a blazing inferno…

He stood at the brink for a single moment, peaking over that edge, and then he was taking that leap into fearful uncertainty and said the words that should not be uttered by a crowned prince. 

Words he had only spoken twice before. 

Once to a prostitute. And the other to a wolf.

"I like guys."

Words he could never take back, and for a moment Lee Chen was frozen, and Zuko feared the worst. 

The thought that Lee Chen might rush to send the Fire Lord a letter about what had just passed the banished prince's lips, but instead of writing letters, the private did something Zuko never expected in ten thousand lifetimes…

He felt lips press against his own, for the first time in his life, and the hand on his shoulder slipped down to the small of his back, to pull him further in. The other hand cupped his check softly, like he was valuable and to be handled with care.

But his eyes weren’t blue…

They were brown.

But there was no one else out there to see them, two teens kissing under the light of a half-moon. So if Zuko was pretending in his mind, as he found himself kissing back, that those eyes were blue? 

Then who would ever know…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still a Zukka fic. Zuko is actually thinking of Sokka while kissing Lee Chen. He's missing his friend the wolf, and Lee Chen is providing comfort, and Zuko is a touch starved comfort starved awkward turtleduck. So he kisses back because it feels nice, and he doesn't have a lot of that in his life. The next chapter will cover the storm and the blue spirit. After that, stuff goes absolutely nuts.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Iroh knew that simply asking Zuko what had happened that caused him to become so on edge was more likely than not the path of most resistance. So instead Iroh had to be strategic about how he dealt with this. Something or someone had caused his nephew to become afraid, and that threat would be eliminated. 

First, he needed to gather intel about what had happened and establish a timeline, and then he would be able to identify the threat, and then, and only then, General Iroh would remove it. First, the Dragon of the West had to think about what he knew…

First and foremost, Zuko had come back to The Dragon's Claw from the Fire Sage's Temple, he had done so in standard-issue fire navy handcuffs and was more on edge than Iroh had ever seen the boy. 

Zuko had this look in his eyes like one wrong move and he would dive overboard and swim away like a frightened turtle duckling. 

It reminded Iroh of when his nephew had been made to fight Ozai in that fateful Agni Kai… Of course, Zuko hadn't known until he'd turned around that his father would be his enemy, but the look of horror that had filled the thirteen-year-old boy's face would haunt Iroh to the end of his days, as would Zuko's screams. 

Nor would he forget the cold fury he felt when he heard Zhao chuckle at the scene before them. 

But after that Agni Kai Zuko had just shut down for a while. He was so empty. Just going through the motions. And he had receded behind a mask of anger to hide his tears and fears. 

Any number of things could hide behind that mask, and Iroh wished that his nephew would let him help him through whatever those things were…

Zuko hadn't spoken a single word about what had happened at the temple despite the story that those handcuffs told, and it could be possible that the boy had only been spooked by having been arrested. 

Something that they both knew would have resulted in the banished prince being brought back to the Caldera for execution. He had broken the terms of his banishment by crossing into Fire Nation waters… 

But Iroh didn't think that was it. 

No, it had been the same look Zuko had at the marketplace, only amplified. 

However, Iroh couldn't simply order to have the ship turned around to go back to that market, as Zuko was insistent on traveling north, just like the Avatar. 

Despite this, Iroh was not out of options. He could still ask Lt. Jee and Private Lee Chen about the trip, as they had gone with Zuko. Only, they hadn't been with the boy when he had all but run to his uncle.

Odd…

So Iroh began a search of the ship looking for the two men.

He found the lieutenant quickly enough, but Iroh was unable to locate Lee Chen. 

“Something happened during our visit to the first port after Kyoshi. Tell me what you know, lieutenant.”

Jee had looked puzzled, but he answered promptly, “Private Lee Chen and myself walked with the Prince through the market until he found a butcher’s stall on the same street as the tea shop you told me about once you had gotten back to the ship. He purchased moo sow meat and sent the two of us back to the ship with it while he paid. A few minutes after we got back to the ship, the two of you arrived. Then the Prince went hunting, sir.”

Iroh was puzzled because that meant only a few minutes at most had passed between Zuko being left alone and him rushing up to Iroh.

“And that is all?” The general asked, unsure of what crucial detail that he must be missing.

Lt. Jee confirmed, “Yes, sir, that is all.”

Maybe the private would have a deeper insight into what had happened, as the man had seemingly grown close with his nephew since Gaipan. Zuko might have opened up to Lee Chen about whatever it was that had transpired.

Maybe Private Lee Chen would know exactly had happened in those precious few minutes that had spooked Zuko so bad. Because Iroh certainly hadn't gotten the chance to look around and check before Zuko had dragged him away with frantic talk about needing an escort back to the ship…

What an odd way to word it?

An escort.

Iroh frowned, as he took to strolling about deep in thought. If only Zuko would trust him with it, then Iroh could help!

It was an hour and a half into his ponderings that Iroh became aware of a sound coming from the raft room… It sounded like someone was cursing.

Iroh threw the door open and rushed in fearing that someone may have been hurt. The first thing he noted was a ponytail ducking behind the cabin of the raft, and then that Lee Chen spun around and kept the steering column between him and the former general.

"Prince Zuko, Private Lee Chen, I heard someone shout? Are the two of you okay?"

"JUST FINE!" Zuko barked, voice sounding more hoarse than usual.

Lee Chen flashed him a sheepish smile, and murmured bashfully, "I was trying to console the prince about his search for the Avatar, Sir." 

Which actually made a lot of sense. 

The man had seemed to have become somewhat friendly with his nephew since the events involving the Freedom Fighters… 

But Iroh frowned because he knew the sound of his nephew's voice. He had heard Zuko curse out the crew more times than he cared to admit, and really what had he thought would happen to the child's language on a ship full of Navy Sailors? 

Still, it hadn't sounded like Zuko to Iroh, but the thought that perhaps Lee Chen had been the one to curse because Zuko had now taken to assaulting their crew was a far more unpleasant thought. 

However, Iroh didn't want to deal with that mess for the moment, so he accepted the private's answers and left, still wondering to himself about what was going on with his beloved nephew…

* * *

_“OF COURSE, IT HAD BEEN JUST MY LUCK THAT MY UNCLE HAD WALKED IN ON US!”_ Zuko thought as he ducked behind the cabin of the raft and swallowed the mouthful of salty bitter liquid with a grimace. 

He couldn't spit it out and risk his uncle walking over to check on them and see it. His uncle might be old, but the man was by no means an idiot. 

_HOW WOULD HE EXPLAIN AWAY THAT?_

Luckily for him, Lee Chen was able to lie smoothly to The Dragon of the West, who would have likely done away with the private if he knew what they were up to. 

It should have bothered Zuko how quickly the lie had slipped from the man's mouth, but at this moment all he felt was relief.

As soon as his uncle had left Lee Chen let out a relieved sigh, and Zuko came out of his hiding spot to grab a rag from the railing of the raft and wipe the remaining stickiness from his face before he turned to face Lee Chen with a filthy smile and leading the man out of sight of the door.

"I believe it is your turn to kneel, Private."

Lee Chen followed his prince willingly into the shadows with a big smile on his face and an extremely pleased, "Yes, Sir!"

Zuko’s mind had returned once more to the Avatar.

Uncle had prattled on about some storm and how they needed to change their course to avoid it, but there wasn’t any sign of a coming storm. Not as far as Zuko could tell anyways.

However, his refusal to change course was met by his uncle nagging at him, “Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew.”

He shouldn’t have said it, but the words had left his mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying, “The safety of the crew doesn’t matter!”

But then he saw the look on Lt. Jee’s face as the man had entered his sight.

Did Zuko actually think that his crew’s safety didn’t matter? No, Angi knew that he cared. It was just that he didn’t see any sign of a storm. Taking precautions against a threat that wasn’t even there was a waste of everyone’s time.

He needed to be back in the Caldera where he would be of more use in keeping his people safe. There was no way for him to make sure what had happened in Gaipan wouldn’t happen again if he was still banished. Not unless he abandoned his quest for the Avatar and spent all of his time chasing down rumors of towns being attacked.

He couldn’t protect the whole of the Fire Nation like that though.

The only way he could do that was to return home with his honor and once he was ready to challenge his father for the throne. And maybe if Iroh wouldn’t hold him back in his training he would be able to learn all of the fire bending forms that he needed to know to defeat his father.

The only way he would be able to wrestle the throne away from his father was an Agni Kai. If he was to kill the man outside of one then he would be forfeiting his claim to the throne.

So he stormed over to Lt. Jee and growled right in the man’s face, “Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual’s safety.”

Following that he turned around and strode back into the interior of the ship, slamming the door to the outside behind him.

He still didn’t believe it though, but he had dug himself a hole with his words and it was too late.

If Lee Chen hadn’t had to go report for lookout duty, Zuko would have sought him out. Not to explain himself by any measure, but to take comfort in the man and the affections he freely offered the prince.

A few hours later Zuko reemerged to train, only to come face to face with angry dark storm clouds on the horizon.

Zuko glared at them as though the clouds had paid him some sort of disrespect. It had been just his luck that his uncle had been right.

It didn’t help that Lt. Jee took note and smugly pointed out, "Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all."

"Lucky guess." His uncle was quick to say, trying to placate Zuko's outburst before it began because Zuko wasn't blind and they all knew he could see the storm clouds well enough for himself, even with his bad eye. Zuko could see that he had been wrong, but the lieutenant didn't need to rub it in his face like he was some poodle monkey who'd had an accident on the carpet!

"Lieutenant!" He snarled, as he stormed over to the older male. "You'd better learn some respect, or I will teach it to you." 

He finished his threat with a jab to the man's chest. Anger bubbling inside him like acid, as he turned to walk away.

But the lieutenant had to open his mouth again and snark, "What do you know about respect?" 

Zuko came to a standstill as the man continued his tirade. "The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard-working crew to your esteemed uncle, shows you know nothing about respect! You only care about yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?"

Zuko felt something inside him snap, and when he spun around it was to send a spinning fire kick at the man who dared to question him! He howled in anger, in a way that seemed less than human, as blinding rage filled him. 

_HAD THE MAN ALREADY FORGOTTEN WHAT ZUKO HAD DONE FOR THAT COLONY THOSE EARTH KINGDOM TERRORISTS HAD DESTROYED!?_

How he had agreed if he lost that duel, then Jet would be allowed to kill him without recourse? 

Was he so quick to forget the things that Zuko had said? Had that all meant nothing?!

Jee looked startled for only a moment before he was cutting through the flames and sending a volley of fireballs in return, which Zuko dodged by leaping into the air and sending another kick of flames at the man, as he flipped forward and sprang back up into the air, only to send a kick from his boot right at the man's face after his opponent had managed to barely evade the fire. 

The kick sent the man sprawling on the ground, but before Zuko could attack again Uncle was pushing his way between them and the lieutenant, shouting, "We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better." 

But Zuko simply turned to face the storm snapping spitefully at his uncle, "I don't need your help keeping order on my ship."

"Perhaps a calming cup of-" Iroh began, placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder, but Zuko shrugged it off and stomped away, shame hiding behind boiling anger because this was all his fault. 

If he hadn't been a coward during that fateful Agni Kai then he may have avoided banishment, and these men could have been with their families. 

Zuko could have been with his family. 

Zuko would be in a better position to help his people…

* * *

Lee Chen watched from the lookout tower with the desire to abandon his post and run to his Zuko and offer him comfort and reassurance, but from everything the brown-eyed private could tell, Zuko was a very private person. 

Nearly three years on a ship with him and Lee Chen knew next to nothing, aside from the fact that he got very good at whatever he put his mind to.

Determined beyond that of anyone Lee Chen had ever seen before, and as of late he had come to very much enjoy getting to know that determination up close and personal. He very much enjoyed it.

But there was so much more about the prince that he wanted to know.

His favorite color? Favorite food? Childhood memory? The story behind that scar? Was Lee Chen his first? Had there been others?

He would be happy with anything that Zuko found himself willing to tell him, but now that the private came to think about it, he hadn't told Zuko much about himself either… 

Which maybe he should, before he went badgering his prince with private questions, and especially if he wanted what they had to become something real, but by the time his watch shift was over, Zuko had locked himself in his room, clearly not wanting to be disturbed, so Lee Chen headed down into the storage hull of the ship to enjoy a drink with the rest of the crew. 

Just in time to catch Jee complaining, "I'm sick of taking his orders, and I'm tired of chasing his Avatar. I mean who does Zuko think he is?"

Oh no… That sounded like someone thinking about mutiny…

But suddenly a voice answered from behind the tall private.

"Do you really want to know?"

Lee Chen whipped around and bowed to Iroh, heart pounding. This could be very very bad. The crew was caught talking mutiny, but 'Yes! Please tell me!'

And so followed one of the most horrifying stories that he had ever heard…

"So that’s why he's so obsessed… Capturing the Avatar is the only chance of things returning to normal." Lt. Jee thought out loud.

"Things will never return to normal, but the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope."

Lee Chen now spoke. "But in that colony, he told us the people in that town came before capturing the Avatar… He was really willing to risk never going home… Just to help them…"

"Is that really so shocking, when you consider he was banished for the same thing?"

Lt. Jee was quiet when he whispered, "Prince Zuko puts the whole of the Fire Nation before himself…" 

No one was surprised that when the ship was struck by lightning, Jee raced up the ladder behind Zuko to help save the helmsman, and then once safely back on the ground and Zuko spotted the Avatar, the lieutenant asked, seriously, "What do you want to do, sir?" Like he was willing to actually risk his own safety for Zuko's mission.

But Zuko relaxed and turned to face the man, and proved his loyalty to his crew in the single most surprising way he could, by saying, "Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety." 

And once the ship had reached that safety? The prince actually apologized to his uncle.

The moment they were alone Lee Chen pulled Zuko to him in a kiss, humming happily into his cute kind-hearted commander's soft mouth.

And maybe Lee Chen was a hopeless romantic, but there wasn’t anything he liked better in the world then that mouth and the person it was attached to.

Zuko was a good person who loved his people and was willing to do whatever he decided was required of him to keep them safe. The prince was kind-hearted and determined, and there wasn’t anything Lee Chen wouldn’t do for his prince.

And so maybe he had fallen just a little bit in love with the guy, but he was going to treasure every moment he got to spend with Zuko.

He didn’t say that to Zuko. Not yet. Because maybe it was still too soon and maybe he was scared that Zuko would end this wonderful amazing thing that they were building together? Maybe it was because he still wanted to leave Zuko with an out of the prince decided he needed it.

And maybe it was because saying I love you meant explaining his past and how he had come to be on The Dragon’s Claw in the first place. Something Lee Chen was by no means ready to do.

Maybe it was because Zuko was kissing him back and letting the private press him down into a bed that Lee Chen had no business being in, aside from the permission that Zuko had given him, and Lee Chen didn’t want to ruin the moment.

All he knew was that Zuko let him and opened up to him, slowly but eagerly.

And so later that night while the ship was docked off the shore from the Pohuai Stronghold, and Zuko decided to sneak off from the ship telling him that he was just going to get some fresh air…

Maybe he pretended to buy the lie and maybe he pretended to go back to sleep.

All he knew was he didn’t want this tender and this precise thing he had with Zuko to end before it ever really had a chance to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning Zuko has a panic attack in this chapter. If that is triggering for you then you should skip this chapter.  
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

The moment that Zuko had spotted The Hawk's Talon at the port, he knew that Zhao was somewhere nearby. 

He had an ominous feeling about the whole thing. 

Not because he'd thought the worm slug had followed him here, like a shirshu. No, Zhao's ship was already docked when Zuko's own ship arrived at the port. Zhao was up to something, and Zuko needed to find out what. Because there was a very real chance that the man had discovered that the Avatar was traveling north. 

Which could only mean one thing, that capturing the Avatar had just become a race, and if Zhao was the winner, then Zuko would lose the only chance he had at going home.

Not good…

Zuko spent the rest of the day allowing himself to be distracted by a certain handsome brown-eyed sailor boy. And the distraction that Lee Chen provided him with was nice. Very nice. When night had well and truly fallen, Zuko slowly untangled his limbs from a sleeping Lee Chen and slipped out of his bed. Quietly as possible.

"Babe?" A sleep-groggy voice asked.

"Just getting some fresh air. Go back to bed." Zuko half lied, as a fuzzy warm feeling filled his chest at that one word. Lee Chen smiled up at him, leaned up to give him a quick kiss, and then he laid back down snoring lightly. Once Zuko was sure that Lee Chen was fast asleep, he was quick to pull his clothes on. Then he grabbed his swords and Blue Spirit mask before sneaking off into the woods.

He prayed to the spirits that he would remain undetected, and the spirits heard his prayers. They treated him better than luck ever could.

There was something strangely peaceful about leaping from tree to tree through a forest at night. It was quiet and the only sounds that could be heard were the wind in the trees and the chatter of nocturnal animals.

Zuko reached the stronghold and while no one was looking he scaled the outermost wall and launched himself up onto the roof of a lookout tower.

He was still wondering about how to infiltrate the place when he spotted Commandor Zhao walking with Colonel Shinu, trailed by one of the Yuyan Archers.

The spirits must have been favoring him once again because they came to stand in the lookout tower that he was hidden on top of.

“Colonel Shinu, please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yuyan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away… Without killing it. You’re wasting their talents using them as mere security guards,” Came Zhao’s oily voice from below.

Colonel Shinu didn’t seem to care for what the worm slug had just said, as he remarked, “I can do whatever I want with their talents. They’re my archers and what I say goes.”

“But my search for the Avatar-”

“Is nothing but a vanity project! We’re fighting a real war here and I need every man I’ve got, Commander,” The contempt was clear in Shinu’s voice, and Zuko could full-heartedly agree with that sentiment.

Zhao tried to argue, but Shinu stopped him declaring, “That’s final! I don’t want to hear another word about it!”

Not a moment later a messenger hawk swooped past where Zuko laid prone on the roof and landed on an arm that suddenly stretched out into his field of vision. There was a tense silence and the sound of the letter passing hands.

Then Zhao’s all too pleased voice practically purred, “News from Fire Lord Ozai? It appears I’ve been promoted to Admiral. My request is now an order.”

Dread filled Zuko at those words because there was absolutely zero chance of Zhao not using his newfound power to _get his hands on Zuko._

A moment later _Admiral Zhao_ strode off, and Zuko dared to peak his head down and see how Commander Shinu had taken the news.

The man glared at the receding form of the _Admiral_ before he turned to the Yuyan Archer who stood with him and began to sign to him.

“ _Commander Toshiaki, make sure that the Admiral’s plans fail without drawing suspicion.”_

The archer, Commander Toshiaki, signed back, _“Understood, sir. Have you received word from your nephew?”_

_“Yes, he is leaving Gaipan with his friends to go to Ba Sing Se. He said in his letter he will write to me again once he gets there.”_

Zuko wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but if Colonel Shinu was working against Zhao, Zuko wasn’t going to tell anyone what he had learned.

And Azula said he was _stupid_ for bothering to learn Yuyan hand signals. Looks like he proved her wrong.

The same dread he’d felt learning Zhao had been promoted still filled him when he'd returned to The Dragon's Claw. 

Its hold did loosen when he sank back into bed and cuddled back up with Lee Chen. However, he really should wake the guy up and send him back to his own bed, but he didn't. He needed to be held and the door was locked. No one would catch them together. No one would ever find out.

No one but Lt. Jee the very next day, when Zuko had opened the door hoping to sneak the private out before anyone came looking for him. Jee stood there one hand raised to knock on the door frozen. It was like the Avatar's water bending girlfriend had infiltrated the ship and encased the three men in ice. No one dared to move a muscle in shock.

Zuko felt the blood drain from his face.

Well shit…

"I can explain?" Lee Chen offered.

Zuko ordered blankly and numb, "Do not."

Jee managed an awkward, "I'd rather not know… Umm… You're needed on the bridge, sir. Zhao's here."

Color did not return to Zuko's face at those words. But a brief flash of fear had. Zuko felt horror filling him. He nodded once and then began the walk to where the source of his terror now resided to meet with that horrible, evil, vile, awful worm slug of an admiral. Jee and Lee Chen following worried and silent behind him like shadows in the night.

Zuko prayed to every spirit he could think of, from Agni and all the way to Tui and La, that Zhao was not here for him.

When he got to the door that separated him from the interior of the bridge, he froze. He did not want to go inside. Not when he knew what waited for him on the other side. Not when he didn’t know why it was there waiting for him. Not when there was the dangerous uncertainty of what was about to happen.

Someone said something, but it was far away. Like a distant image of a thing obscured by fog.

He felt like his inner flame had gone out with how cold he now felt. He couldn't seem to get warm again.

He couldn't breathe. There wasn't any air left. Who had stolen the air? Air benders were supposed to be pacifists. Why was one now trying to kill him?

Someone opened the door. He didn't know who. He didn't know if he was the one to do so.

He stepped stiffly inside of the room.

Zhao was there. Zhao was saying something about the Avatar. It was muffled.

It was like Zuko's head was filled with cotton.

Should Zuko's heart be pounding like this? Was that safe? It was the only thing he could hear.

Zhao was going to hurt him.

The man approached holding out a poster with a picture of Aang on it.

Zuko stumbled back and collided with someone.

Zhao smirked.

Uncle was on his feet.

The room was spinning.

Zhao handed the poster to Uncle, and then someone was guiding him away from the door and into the room, so Zhao could leave. But not before he made eye contact with Zuko with hungry eyes and a wide smile.

Zuko was going to be sick.

He turned away, Zhao left, and then he was dry heaving.

Someone distantly shouted, but then Uncle was pulling Zuko into his arms to sit on the ground and rubbing fire-warmed circles into his back.

Someone was singing and Zuko could smell jasmine.

"-ching home.

Brave soldier boy

Comes marching home."

Zuko felt the world coming back to him now, but he still felt cold and his breathing was still coming in short gasps. His head hadn't completely cleared from the fuzzy feeling of fullness, but his heart rate had slowed back to something almost normal.

Someone, probably Uncle, put a cup in his hands and told him to drink.

It was jasmine, and Zuko drained it in two large gulps. He was handed a second cup which he finished in four swallows this time. His breathing slowed under his uncle's guidance.

His hands were still trembling when he handed the teacup back to his uncle.

"You are safe, nephew." Uncle soothed in a gentle voice, much like he had every time Zuko had suffered from blinding terror early on in his banishment, and he warmed Zuko from the inside, stoking the boy's flame with his own flame, steady and sure.

Zuko finally returned to himself fully and he realized with sudden dread, that he had just had a panic attack in front of everyone, Zhao included. Though the worm slug was now gone.

He jolted to his feet and blurted out suddenly, "I need to go hunting."

Then he fled.

* * *

Iroh didn't care much for Zhao, and having the man show up on The Dragon's Claw first thing in the morning had to be one of the more unpleasant ways to begin one's day. But then Zuko had walked in, tailed by Lt. Jee and Private Lee Chen.

His nephew's face was bloodless and deathly pale. He didn't seem to respond to anything that was being said and kept his eyes firmly locked on Admiral Zhao. When Zhao made to hand Zuko the Avatar's wanted poster, his nephew had lurched backward suddenly and stumbled backward into Lee Chen, who caught him.

Iroh saw red.

Zhao was the cause of the unease that had grown within Zuko. ZHAO WAS THE CAUSE OF ZUKO'S FEAR! Zhao was as good as dead and not even the spirits could save that vile vulture slug now. Not when the Dragon of the West had marked him as his prey.

General Iroh shot to his feet, from his seat at the pai sho table that his nephew had given him as a gift during the first summer solstice on The Dragon's Claw, and he held out his hand for the poster. Voice low and dangerous, cold and precise. "I will take that, _Admiral Zhao_ , but you have outstayed your welcome on this ship and should leave before I have decided to take insult with you."

The vulture slug's smile wavered for a moment, and Iroh saw the man's fear.

"Very well, General Iroh. May Agni's flames shine brightly on you," And Zhao left in a hurry.

But he paused at the door to smile that evil predatory smile at Zuko, and Iroh had to remind himself that rending the vile creature could wait. He had to deal with the damage that had been done to his precious nephew first.

Lee Chen guided the prince out of Zhao's way, and once the man was gone Zuko had turned around presumably to see who had a hold of him. 

But then he suddenly clenched at his stomach and bent towards the private and vomited.

Iroh wasted no time in rushing to his nephew's side and pulling him into his arms. He settled back onto his seating cushion with the terrified child in his lap and began rubbing circles into his back, singing to him. His child was shaking like a leaf in an autumn gale. It had been so long since the boy's panic had overcome him like this, and Iroh felt his heart begin to break.

He had no idea what Zhao had done to manifest such visceral terror in his nephew, but the man would pay with his life.

It ended up taking Iroh the better part of an hour to calm his dear nephew to a point where he'd become coherent again, and he had Zuko drink two cups of jasmine tea. Zuko had put up no argument. A testament to how truly terrified he had been. But then Zuko had thrown himself to his feet, blurting out, "I'm going hunting." and vanished.

The boy had returned from his _hunting trip_ the next morning, looking exhausted beyond belief and promptly went straight to bed without being prompted. Iroh, who had kept watch on the deck of The Dragon's Claw worried and, waiting for when his nephew might return, now did the same.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter contains attempted rape. If that kind of content is triggering for you, then you should either skip this chapter or if you still want to read the chapter read my alt version Fire Flakes and Puppet Shows, which goes into more detail about the date Zuko and Private Lee Chen go on.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22414441
> 
> I will be going through that alternate chapter and updating it as well.
> 
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

There was a festival happening in the nearby colony town, and against Prince Zuko's better judgment, he had decided to give his men tomorrow night off to go enjoy the festivities. He was trying to be at least somewhat nicer to them ever since the incident that had come to be known as The Storm amongst the crew of The Dragon's Claw. Lee Chen was especially excited for it, as he had taken the liberty to ask Zuko to go on a date with him at that festival.

They had been in his room, lying curled up on his bed together, when Lee Chen had asked.

Zuko pulled away from the man, confused, and sputtered, “Why?”

Lee Chen leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of the prince’s nose and answered, sweetly, “We’re a couple aren’t we?”

Zuko felt his brain freeze at those words, and all he could manage to say was, “What?”

“A couple? Wait…” The private replied, and then worry filtered over his face. “What did you think we were doing?”

“I… I never stopped to think about it,” Zuko answered honestly, mind reeling from Lee Chen’s announcement. He felt warm and from the flirtatious wink the sailor gave him, Zuko knew he was blushing all over.

Lee Chen then asked, “Would you like to be my boyfriend?”

“I’ve never even had a girlfriend.”

Lee Chen’s smile dropped and he looked disheartened by Zuko’s words, so the banished prince quickly backtracked and blurted out, “But I’d love to be your boyfriend!”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it, Babe, because I’d like to be yours,” Zuko’s _boyfriend_ chuckled before he turned onto his back and pulled Zuko on top of him. “You ready to go again?”

Zuko was more than ready for another round.

The next day as they began the trek to the town, Zuko tried to convince himself that this didn't have anything to do with the memories he currently found himself dwelling on. 

Memories of sneaking out of the palace with his mother, to go to the festival that the commoners were holding in celebration of the harvest. 

That had been the first time he'd been allowed to try fire flakes. When Ozai had caught Zuko asking the chef if he could have some as a snack, the man had punished him and informed the boy that fire flakes were peasant food and unfit for royal consumption. 

He'd learned his lesson, but the cook still made sure to sneak him some from time to time. 

Once at the festival he was going to need to find himself a mask, to both further involve himself in the festivities and avoid the suspicion that he, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, was on a date with his boyfriend. 

Boyfriend, wasn’t that a nice word? It meant that someone loved you, and Agni knows Zuko doesn’t have many people who do. 

So what if he and Lee Chen are still a thing by time he becomes Fire Lord? Well, maybe it's about time a Fire Lord was out and proud.

When they arrived at the town Lee Chen and Zuko separated briefly to buy masks from separate stall, and right as Zuko made to walk over to the stall Lee Chen hadn’t walked up to, a man already wearing a mask rushed up to him and gave him a deep bow and said, "Prince Zuko! It is an honor to have you at our festival! I had no idea that you and your esteemed uncle would be in attendance. My name is Shinzu. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to make your visit more enjoyable." 

There was something strange and familiar about the man, but he couldn't put a finger about whatever it was, and Zuko wanted to tell the man off and let him be, but this man wasn't Zhao or one of the many soldiers of the Fire Navy that considered his quest to be nothing more than a joke.

So he, keeping as much annoyance as possible out of his voice as he could, and said, "I need to purchase a festival mask. Which stall would you suggest I buy it from?"

Shinzu was quiet for a moment before he straightened up and said sheepishly, "My brother used to be a member of the 41st division. He died in the war a few years ago, but if it wouldn't be imprudent, can I bring you his mask for your use? He used to wear it at this festival, and it would mean a great deal to my family if you do us this honor."

The 41st division… That was the division that he'd gotten himself banished for speaking out of turn, trying to spare their lives…

"It would be my honor Shinzu. I'll wait here, while you go and get your brother's mask." He said with a small bow.

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment before he turned and rushed off into the crowd to retrieve the mask for him. 

While Shinzu was gone Zuko stood there deep in thought about the sudden wave of shame he felt at not having fought to try and save those men. 

He had been challenged to an Agni Kai for speaking out of turn over the issue, but then he had refused to fight when he had realized that his father was his opponent. Zuko had dishonored the 41st division with his cowardice. 

Those men died because of him. 

His banishment was well deserved.

While Zuko waited, Lee Chen walked over wearing his own mask, and asked, “I thought the point in going to separate stalls was that we would both buy masks? Where is yours?”

“Someone who lives in this village wants to lend me their brother’s mask… He was a part of the 41st Division… I… I said I’d be honored to wear the mask. He should be back shortly.”

And it wasn’t long before Shinzu returned with the blue mask to his prince. For a brief moment, Zuko had thought that he was looking at his blue spirit mask, but it was only eerily similar, and he thanked the man and asked, "How will I find you to return your brother's mask once its time for me to return to my ship?"

"It is a gift, my prince. There is no need to return it. I would be dishonored if you were to refuse. Its what my brother would have wanted." And with that Shinzu disappeared into the crowd. 

After glancing around them, checking if anyone from his ship was looking their way, and finding that no one was, Zuko slipped on the mask, and took Lee Chen’s hand and disappeared into the crowded streets of the festival. The mask smelt odd. There was a sharp odder that Zuko couldn’t quite place. The mask had been in storage for some time now, so the odd scent was likely to be the musty smell that improperly stored items tended to have.

The scent now out of mind, Zuko led his date through the streets until they stumbled upon a puppet show. Seeing as it was still early in the evening, there wasn’t much else to do than that, as the more mature entertainment wasn’t to start for another hour. The pair sat down on a bench in the back, as to be able to talk without disrupting the silly little show with their whispering back and forth. Flirting and whispered jokes. Hands still intertwined in a way that warmed Zuko from the inside with that same fuzzy feeling he had come to realize was infatuation for the other man.

Given enough time, Zuko was sure that he would come to love Lee Chen.

“Hey what’s your favorite color, babe? I want to get you a gift.” The brown-eyed private asked out of nowhere.

“Blue…” Zuko replied, feeling awkward about the honesty of his answer. “It makes me think of my mom… I miss her, and she would take me to see Love Amongst The Dragons every year on Ember Island, and she gave me a replica of the dark water spirit mask from the play. The color blue reminds me of water, and sitting with her next to the turtle duck pond back home… What about you? What’s your favorite color?”

“Gold, like your eyes.”

“You’re a hopeless romantic.”

“And you’re a sentimental beauty.”

Zuko was blushing faintly behind his mask, as he added, “Turtle ducks remind me of her as well… That’s why I won’t eat them.”

Lee Chen went silent for a moment before nervously saying, “I think I misstepped then… I went to a tavern at a Fire Navy port we docked at about a year ago, before I knew what a great person you are, and was complaining about how spoiled you were and may have mentioned the whole you refusing to eat turtle duck meat… I think one of Zhao’s men overheard me and that’s why Zhao kept stocking the ship with turtle ducks… I didn’t know. I’m so sorry-”

But Zuko quickly cut him off, “If it wasn’t for that, then I would have never started going hunting and I would have never met my friend the wolf. So, in the end, it turned out to be a good thing.” 

Did Zuko want to tell his boyfriend how much the turtle duck meat had driven him insane? Yes, but if he wanted to be with the private long enough to know what falling in love was like, then he had to let it slide and look at the silver lining. Because when he thought about it, there were a lot of bad things and good things in life, and they made a sliver linking sandwich when he stopped to think about it, and he now chose to take a bite of that sandwich. Okay, that metaphor was really stupid, but it made sense in his head. “There is a way you can make it up to me though…”

“Oh, and what’s that?” He could hear Lee Chen’s flirty smile practically.

“Tell me about yourself. I know practically nothing.”

“Deal.” The man answered. “So, you already know that The Dragon’s Claw is the first and only ship I’ve ever served on, right? Well… There is a reason for that. I used to work at a brothel in one of the colonies, and one of my clients was the wife of a naval commander. He caught us in bed together and tried to kill me. So I fled and while running from him took refuge in a Fire Navy Recruitment Office. So I had to make it look like I meant to be there, and, well, I enlisted…

“When I finished basic training I got assigned to that same commander’s ship, but he didn’t want me serving on his ship and there was suddenly a call for undesirables to serve on The Dragon’s Claw, so he had me reassigned. And you know how the rest went down from there.”

Zuko didn’t mean to laugh, but he did. He couldn’t help it because “That means I’ve thrown up on two prostitutes after outing myself as gay!” That disrupted the puppet show and they were kindly encouraged to leave.

A few minutes later as they were wandering about trying to find something to entertain themselves, Zuko felt somehow wrong. A weakness creeping into his veins.

“Hey, I’m not feeling so hot…” Zuko said. “Can we go get something to eat?”

"Anything for you, babe.”

Lee Chen insisted on buying the flakes for him, which made Zuko blush a deep scarlet under his mask. After the boyfriends had walked away from the stand, three teenagers approached the vendor to buy their own hot flakes. 

The banished prince paid them no mind however, as he pushed up his mask high enough to toss a handful of spicy cornflakes into his mouth. They were just as wonderful as he remembered, and it didn't take him long to finish them off.

He did feel a touch better now that he'd eaten something, and he told his date as much thanking him with a quick kiss on the lips, but not long after he'd tossed the empty pouch and returning his mask to its proper position on his face, that sluggish feeling began to return and worsen. 

He began to wonder if he perhaps should return to the ship, but then there was a commotion followed quickly after by an explosion, and suddenly out of nowhere he felt like his head was spinning, and someone was guiding him away from the crowd and away from his distracted date. 

The teen looked up to see who it was, and was met with the mask of Shinzu.

"What…" He slurred, confused at the tense way the man held himself. Like Zuko was a dangerous animal that might attack at the slightest provocation.

"I'm sorry, my prince. I am just following orders. I would not do this to you voluntarily."

And then Zuko was being shoved into a different man. A man Zuko knew the instant those arms wrapped around his waist.

"ZHAO! Release me this instant!" The teen slurred in horrified anger as the pieces began coming together.

"No, not when I've finally succeeded in subduing you, Prince Zuko." The worm slug chuckled darkly. "Not when I finally get to add more of your delicious screams to my memories. Not when you are helpless to stop what I am about to do to you."

"The mask…" Zuko realized with a groan as Zhao dragged him away from the town and into the forest. "You coated the mask in something, and I absorbed it through my skin."

"Correct, Prince Zuko." The Admiral confirmed as the teen struggled weakly against his hold. "It is serving to relax your muscles to such a point that you should find their use to be borderline nonexistent. It works so well, that I won't even need to prepare you when I finally take you, and best of all, your chi paths are being disrupted, so you can't try any of your little fire bending tricks." Then, after a pause, Zhao sneered, "Looks like I finally won the game of cat owl and badger mouse that we've been playing."

When Prince Zuko tried to call upon his fire, he found that the worm slug hadn’t been lying. So panicking and swallowing his pride, Zuko began to yell for help, but right as he began hollering, there was an explosion, and no one would have had a hope of hearing him over the sound of fireworks. 

Zuko had to get away _right now_ because, with each and every passing moment, his limbs became less and less responsive, but before he could come up with anything, Zhao was slamming him face-first into a tree, and the teen was suddenly wishing that he had worn his armor to the festival.

Not a moment later the Admiral was grinding his clothed erection into Zuko's backside and slipping a burning hand inside of the teen's tunic.

Zuko howled in pain, while Zhao moaned in pleasure.

Then there was a hand wrestling with the fastenings of the teen's pants, and Zuko was pleading, "NO! STOP! _Please,_ Admiral! I-I don't- I don't want this!"

Hot breath ghosted across the back of his neck, as his attacker said, "I know, my prince, and it is for that exact reason that I am doing this. You do not know how long I have dreamt of this day. How long I have wanted you like this. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew I wanted you. Ever since I heard you screaming as your father burned you, I knew I would have you. Do you understand, my prince?"

"You're sick, Zha- AHHH!!" Zuko cried out in a pain-filled shriek, as the Admiral burned the teen again. 

A moment later Zuko's pants were being tugged down to his knees, his mask was yanked from his face, and a pair of fingers were being pressed to his mouth.

"Suck." Ordered Zhao.

The teen allowed the two fingers to enter his mouth, but instead of complying, Zuko bit down on them as hard as he could, and it was Admiral Zhao's turn to howl in pain, as a gush of blood filled the teen's mouth. He spat that and the fingers out and onto the ground. 

He wished he could have got to spit them in the worm slug's face, but the angle wasn't right, and he couldn't work his body well enough to manage said right angle. 

That and Zhao was still wearing a mask.

"That's it! You royal little _brat_!" 

A wet smacking sound followed, right before the scent of burning flesh, from Zhao cauterizing the bleeding numbs that once were fingers. 

Had Zhao really just _slicked himself with his own_ **_blood_ **? 

That was an absolutely _terrifying_ thing to do.

Zuko pleaded for the man to stop, but Admiral Zhao didn't listen. He only laughed dementedly, before he burned his prince again. 

“I will _treasure_ your screams and begging for many years to come, _my_ prince. And when those screams no longer get me off the same way… I will do this again-” 

But Zhao went silent when there came an angry snarling from the tree line.

Zuko couldn't turn his head, but he would know that growl anywhere, and his sobs turned from broken whimpers into ones of relief, before he cried begging the wolf, "Get Him Off Of Me! _Please,_ _Get Him Off Me Now!!"_

Zhao began to make a confused sound, but before he could react, the wolf launched himself at the man, knocking him down and locking its jaws on Zhao's arm. 

With no one to hold Zuko up, he slumped to the ground in front of the tree, as Zhao struggled to get away from the wolf somewhere behind him.

From the receding sound of the fight, the wolf must have been winning, and by time Zuko finally started regaining the proper use of his muscles, the wolf was bounding back up to the teen, who was trying to keep his breathing steady and to not let his pain show on his face. 

When he saw the wolf Zuko shot him a smile, filled with relief and an overwhelming sense of calm because no one could hurt him if the wolf was around. 

If _anyone_ tried his four-legged friend would protect him.

"Thank you," The fire bender rasped, voice more hoarse than usual due to all of the screaming. "He drugged me… He coated my mask with something. He- He was going to rape me….”

The wolf looked at him for a few moments, before taking a few hesitant steps forward and then stopped, as Zuko began to struggle with trying to pull his pants back up. 

It took him a few tries, but he succeeded. 

And when he did the wolf crossed the distance between them, curling up around Zuko, who pressed his face into that soft familiar fur.

It had been close to a month since the last time Zuko had seen the wolf and so much had happened. There was so much he wanted to tell the wolf.

But right now? 

Right now he was overwhelmed with the horror of what had very nearly happened to him. 

The very thing that he had been dreading for months, ever since Zhao had cornered him in the marketplace. Something that maybe he had been dreading ever since he was thirteen and the man had first shown him that Zuko needed to be wary and cautious around him.

So Zuko cried, and then he sobbed. The wolf curled protectively around him. 

And while this was the safest he’d felt in weeks, Zuko was by no means okay.

The wolf stayed with him all night long. And Zuko had fallen into an uneasy sleep filled with visions of what might have happened if the wolf hadn’t come to his rescue. Things that he wouldn’t want to think about when the sun rose in the morning. Things he would actively try to forget. Things that he would tell no one but the wolf.

In the morning his injuries made themselves known, and Zuko hauled himself to his feet, waking the wolf up who, when Zuko tried to walk towards the town and back to his ship, he leaped up and got in his way.

“Out of my way.” Zuko pleaded. “I need to get back to my ship. You can find me next time I go hunting can’t you?”

The wolf barked and whined at him before it nudged him with its snout and laid down on the ground and looked at him. At first, Zuko didn’t understand what his friend was trying to tell him, but then it hit him.

“You want me to ride on your back?”

The wolf honest to Agni nodded at him like it was a human. 

Zuko was suddenly gripped with the odd notion that the wolf may, in fact, be a spirit.

A thought that had occurred to him more than once now. 

The creature was certainly intelligent enough to understand human speech, but that motion had been too human for the wolf to be a simple weirdly smart wolf. And somehow it made a weird amount of sense to Zuko because every time he’d prayed to the spirits, things had gone his way. 

He already knew the spirits were looking out for him. The wolf being some sort of spirit guide or guardian spirit wouldn’t be unbelievable. He’d read tales of such happening before however rare they might be.

So he climbed up on the wolf’s back and told it where his ship was docked. 

The wolf walked at a leisurely pace, as to not aggravate Zuko’s burns, and the fire bender filled the silence by talking about the things that had happened since they had last seen each other.

“First I helped rebuild a town that some Earth Kingdom terrorists destroyed, and then I… Well I got my first kiss.” Zuko blushed, but pressed on, despite the sudden pause in the wolf’s steps. 

“Lee Chen is actually really sweet. And he seems to care about me a lot. So he’s probably pretty worried about me.” 

“Let’s see, my ship got caught up in a storm, but everyone turned out fine, though my men have become weirdly respectful to me. Like they suddenly care. Lee Chen might have something to do with that… I’m not sure.”

“He taught me how to give blow jobs.”

The wolf came to a full stop.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get off?” 

But then the wolf began walking again, at a less leisurely pace now. 

“Oh… Did you… Do you not want to hear about that kind of stuff? I guess you’re like Lt. Jee he kind of caught us, but he didn’t want to know what was going on either.”

“Zhao showed up on my ship that morning though and I had a panic attack, which is probably why he pulled what he did last night… Because he knew he finally had gotten to me to be afraid of him… I-I… I don’t- I can’t think about that right now…”

“Lee Chen took me on a date last night… Agni last night is ruined…”

“I broke the Avatar out of Pohuai Stronghold. Zhao had captured him when the kid was out collecting frogs, so I grabbed my swords and put on my Blue Spirit mask and broke him out…”

“He actually asked if I thought in another life we could have been friends. So that’s neat I guess…”

“Maybe not the best thing to do directly after a panic attack, but at least I didn’t get myself caught. Almost caught yes, but not actually caught…”

Zuko chartered aimlessly about things until his ship came into view, but then the wolf didn’t stop walking. He padded his way onto the dock and startled more than a few of the people milling about.

“Hey, Wolf? What are you doing? I can walk the rest of the way!” Zuko asked in a panic because the last thing he needed was his crew losing the sudden respect they had for him because he was being babied by a wolf.

The wolf kept walking, and despite Zuko not having pointed out which ship was his, boarded the Dragon’s Claw and howled until several members of the crew were on the deck, looking shocked that Zuko was currently riding a massive wolf spirit like it was an ostrich horse.

Lee Chen was among them.

“The wolf, sir?” He asked, somewhat dazed.

“Yes…” Zuko answered, embarrassed.

Then the wolf laid down on the deck, and Lee Chen helped Zuko off of the wolf. 

Once Zuko was no longer sitting on said massive wolf, it leaped up, licked him on the face, snarled threateningly at his crew, and bolted into the woods.

The crew now stared at Zuko in equal parts shock and horror.

Lt. Jee asked, “How in Agni’s name did you tame a wolf?”

“What? No, I didn’t…” Zuko sputtered. “He- I- We’re friends?”

“With a wolf? It acted like it was your own personal attack wolf- Is that a burn?!”

Zuko felt the blood drain from his face, and his injuries made themselves known. 

One of which was screaming on his collar bone, which the ocean breeze was stinging with salty air…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full Iroh POV chapter! He's got murder on his mind!  
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Zuko’s hand moved to cover the burn but stopped short of touching the skin, and Iroh frowned.

Lt. Jee, who’d brought the crew’s shared attention to that burn, asked the question on everyone’s minds.

“What happened?”

Zuko didn’t give the man an answer and chose to let his hand drop away leaving the burn untouched.

Private Lee Chen approached his nephew now, asking, “There was an explosion, and then you were gone. If you were burned during it, why didn’t you come back to the ship to get them treated?”

Zuko looked blankly at the private, and Iroh knew that they wouldn’t be getting any answers from his nephew. Not when he was like this. The shock of being told he had a burn had been replaced by quiet. Zuko was trying to either not think about what had happened or didn’t trust himself to say it.

Iroh couldn’t be sure which.

Someone had attacked his nephew. Iroh was sure of that much.

It was obvious from the burn pattern that peaked out from the collar of Zuko’s shirt.

It looked too much like fingers that had curled around from behind.

“Come, let us treat your burns,” He sighed, before gesturing for Zuko to follow him inside of the ship and to the medic bay.

Zuko for all of his stubbornness followed.

And once there, his nephew sat down on the exam table, only once Iroh had sent the ship’s medic out of the room.

He knew Zuko, and he knew that the boy hated to look vulnerable in front of their men. Something taught to him by Ozai no doubt. 

Never let your allies think you’re weak or they will turn on you.

Azulon had tried and failed to teach Iroh the same lesson. He found that his allies respected him more when he was willing to show weakness to them. And those who didn’t respect him for it and tried to turn on him were always startled by the ferocity he would respond to their betrayals with.

Zuko had learned to become equally ferocious over the years. The longer he was kept away from Ozai, the stronger Zuko had become. And well that had definitely included Zuko becoming louder and more outspoken, with nobody around with the proper authority to keep the boy’s tongue in check, and Iroh was glad for that as well.

He would never forget just how quiet his nephew was when Iroh had finally returned to the Caldera close to a year after he had abandoned the Siege of Ba Sing Se.

Zuko wasn’t just quiet, he was completely silent.

Iroh still remembered that.

He had come home and was greeted by his younger brother and the man’s children, whom Iroh had not seen in two and a half years.

“General Iroh, welcome home,” Ozai said with false warmth in his voice, and when Iroh had glanced from Ozai to the crown of fire which sat in his top knot, he had smirked.

It was brief, but Iroh had caught it.

“It is a pleasure to be home, my lord. I have missed my family and it brings me great sorrow to know that I could not be here with our father in his final days.”

Ozai had done something to Fire Lord Azulon. Iroh wasn’t sure what and he knew his brother wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave evidence of what he’d done.

Still, he looked at his niece and nephew, and he was worried even more.

Azula was much the same as she’d ever been. Cold eyes and a calculating smile. She would make for a fierce and powerful Fire Lord and would bring down the Earth Kingdom if that was what she decided to do.

But Zuko, who was now in the dangerous territory of being first in line for the throne, was quiet and when Iroh had looked him in the eyes, he saw only dull gold. There was no spirit left in the child who had been once so full of life.

Later once the greetings had been exchanged, he had sat down with Zuko on the bench that sat in front of the turtle duck pond.

“I didn’t see your mother earlier, is she ill?”

Zuko had given no answer. He merely sat there looking at the turtle ducks in silence.

It had taken Iroh months to finally get his nephew to begin speaking again, and when he was sure that he had finally returned the boy’s spirit to him, Zuko had asked to sit in on the War Council.

Iroh shouldn’t have let him.

And now here sat his child just as silent as he had been that day he had returned to the palace. Just as silent as he was when he had first woken up on The Dragon’s Claw and been told of his banishment.

Zuko’s silence had never meant anything good in all of the years that the boy had lived.

It did not mean anything good now either.

And when asked Zuko had removed his shirt revealing not just the burn on his collar bone, that Iroh had insisted on treating, but dozens upon dozens of burns. 

All hand-shaped, and one of which was missing two fingers.

Iroh was horrified. 

What in Agni’s name had happened last night to his nephew? 

He filed away the detail that the man who had volunteered to be killed by Iroh’s hand by deciding to harm Zuko was missing two fingers on his right hand. That would be useful information for finding the beetle roach who had done this, but first, he had to deal with the burns. 

Burns which, based on their placement, indicated that someone had grabbed at him from behind. 

The implications of that were more than unsettling.

The General felt his blood boil at the thought, but for the moment he was able to banish it. He would, of course, be telling the crew to keep an eye out for the man.

He grabbed the salve and bandages, before heading to where his nephew silently sat and began the task of cleaning the wounds before applying the burn salve and bandages. The actions were reminiscent of nearly three years ago when he had done the same for his child’s left eye and face.

He was going to murder whoever had done this slowly. He would make sure they knew ten times the pain that they had put his nephew through.

Once he had finished with his task, nagging thought of worry that there may be more of the burns made him ask, “Prince Zuko, are there any other burns that need to be treated?” The way his nephew had flinched at his title did not bode well. But then Zuko had nodded and Iroh asked, “Can you show them to me, Nephew?”

Zuko reached for his pants and horror filled Iroh when he unclasped them and shimmed them down to his knees to reveal a burn raw and blistering on his inner right thigh, in the shape of a hand with three fingers.

Iroh saw red. 

He wanted to vomit at the sight. He wanted to warm his hands around the neck of the fool who had done this. He wanted to burn their throat with his fire. He wanted to make the vile, evil monster that had done this pay.

But he needed to stay calm for his nephew’s sake. He needed to treat the burn and make sure his nephew could heal from this. He needed to be here for Zuko. 

Only then could he track down and kill the man that had done this.

“Uncle?” Zuko said blankly, sitting there with a vacant, dissociative stare. “Your hand is bleeding.”

Iroh looked down at his hand to find the shattered remains of a jar of burn salve clutched in his bloody grasps and he made quick work of cleaning and bandaging it, before he fetched a new one, and did the same for the burn on his nephew’s thigh.

“I swear whoever did this to you will pay with their life.”

“The wolf stopped him… He… He chased him away.” Zuko informed, voice monotone and quiet. “I think the wolf may have killed him.” 

And if the wolf had, then Iroh would be forever grateful. And if the wolf hadn’t, he would still be forever grateful, as it had stopped something worse from happening to his nephew.

Now that the burns had been treated, Zuko fixed his pants and left, leaving his uncle to be haunted by the memories of screams and burns. 

Memories that made him feel as though he had failed not one, but two sons.

Later that day he observed Private Lee Chen giving his nephew a blue talisman amulet, joking, “You’re always telling me how unlucky you are, so while we were at the festival, I bought you this. It is meant to ward off bad luck.” 

Iroh would have to make sure the man got both a promotion and a raise. 

He was glad that Zuko had made friends, even if one was a wolf. Zuko had always loved animals, so the friendship wasn’t out of the blue to his uncle.

Three nights later it was music night. Iroh had nearly forgotten until Lt. Jee had come to ask why he hadn’t shown up. 

Iroh had been distracted these past few days with his worry for his nephew, and he had asked Zuko to join them up on deck and play the tsungi horn, but the boy had refused, and snapped, “No, I’m going to stay in my room. You can just do music night without me.”

Iroh couldn’t blame him. 

Lee Chen was also absent from music night, but no one went to find him, as he had become harder to locate in the past few weeks.

He had seen that The Hawk’s Talon, Zhao’s ship, was also docked in the same port. And he had a horribly foreboding feeling about that. Like the smell of ozone in the air before a bad storm. 

Nothing good could come from the Admiral’s presence.

It seemed that Zhao had elected to make an appearance during music night and the General doubted the man was about to offer to fill in as tsungi hornist for his nephew. Instead, he greeted them with the raise of his right hand. 

His three-fingered right hand, that the crew’s eyes had locked themselves on with hostile tension.

“General Iroh.”

Pieces of a vile puzzle fell into place.

Iroh did nothing to mask the seething hatred that had now made its home on his face, as he said in a cold voice, “You are not welcomed on this ship, Admiral. I find your presence both repugnant and deeply insulting. You should leave while I still give you that option.”

“Unfortunately, I have orders from the Fire Lord,” The foolish creature spoke, not wilting under the General’s fierce glare of unfathomable rage. “I will be taking this crew to aid me during my siege of the Northern Water Tribe. I need to speak to Prince Zuko.”

“Very well.” Iroh hissed spitefully, “Lt. Jee and I will escort you to him.”

“Of course, General Iroh, and you are more than welcome to join me in the siege.”

“I won’t.” Iroh spat back before leading the beetle roach inside, with Lt. Jee bringing up the rear. “I will stay with my nephew.”

Lt. Jee, while visibly hateful in his demeanor, looked oddly uneasy about following them to Zuko’s room, but once they had arrived at the door, the man opened it for them and allowed Iroh to step inside followed by Admiral Zhao.

Iroh’s voice caught in his throat and the blood drained from his face at the sight that greeted them.

While thankfully still clothed, Prince Zuko, his nephew, was straddling Private Lee Chen’s lap, grinding his hips in time with the other’s, while locked in a passionate kiss. Small desperate sounds pouring from his nephew in tune with the private’s own throaty groans.

Iroh would have preferred to find out his nephew’s sexuality anyway but this one. Not with Admiral Zhao in the room with them.

Lt. Jee, who was making a point not to look at the pair, cleared his throat and the two froze, before slowly turning their heads in the direction of the noise, and upon seeing the three men, horror filled their faces.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.” Zhao chuckled darkly. “I never expected you, Prince Zuko, to willfully debase yourself in this manner.”

“The Admiral is here to take the crew of The Dragon’s Claw, Nephew.”

“I refuse to go!” Lee Chen shouted as he removed Zuko from his lap, and leaped to his feet.

But then the Admiral was smirking and said, “If you refuse, then I will be required to write the Fire Lord and explain why his son is the cause. How do you think Prince Zuko’s father will react to learning his only son, the Crowned Prince of our great nation, has become nothing more than a _pathetic_ cock sucker willing to defile himself with trash like yourself?”

The private’s shoulders slumped, and the spark of life died in his eyes as he answered, “Understood, Admiral. I’ll pack my things.” 

Lee Chen didn’t make to leave yet, however, but Iroh could see the defeat in the private’s posture. 

He stayed rooted where he stood.

It was then that the Admiral took notice of the dao swords on the wall of Zuko’s room, and Iroh noted the subsequent look of terror on his nephew’s face that had only increased, when Zhao took one off of the wall and gave it a quick swing, before saying, “I didn’t know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko.”

“I’m not.” His nephew lied, looking away as he spoke. “They’re antiques. Just decorative.”

Zhao studied the blade in his hands more closely now and asked, “Have you ever heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?”

Iroh’s own lie came easily, “Just rumors. I don’t think he’s real.”

“He’s real, all right.” The vile beetle roach returned, strolling over to Zuko and holding out the sword.

“He’s a criminal and an enemy of the Fire Nation.” 

The General’s nephew took the sword with a trembling hand. 

“But I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon.” 

Following that, he began heading for the doorway that led out of the room, only to pause once he’d reached it to add, “General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands… If you change your mind.” 

And then he finally left, closing the door behind him.

Iroh turned to look at the couple, and he watched as Zuko now returned the sword back to its spot on the wall, on edge in a way that only Zhao seemed able to make his nephew. 

Then Lee Chen rushed over to pull Zuko into his arms and hold him close and whispered, “I love you, Zuko. I love you, never forget that.”

And then he fled.

Zuko now returned to the bed and pleaded in a weak voice, “I-I.. Please, Uncle, I need to be alone…”

“I’ll go for a walk, Nephew, feel free to join me when you’re ready.” 

And against his better judgment, he left his nephew, followed by the lieutenant. 

He farewelled the crew and wished them luck and watched as Lee Chen left his service a broken man.

Soon after, he allowed himself to leave for his walk to wonder and think about the events that had transpired. 

He hadn’t known his nephew preferred men or even that he had been actively engaging in a relationship with one. 

Iroh wasn’t bothered by the fact his nephew was gay, he would always love and accept Zuko. Even if he was hurt that Zuko hadn’t felt he could tell his uncle, and it made him wonder what he had done to make his nephew think something like that.

What he was upset about was that Zhao had used it as a way to hurt both his nephew and Lee Chen.

He had never seen someone’s spirit killed as easily as the beetle roach had done with the private’s.

It had been sick and perverse. He hated that if he was to kill the Admiral right now, he would be branded a traitor and arrested, and then Zuko would be all alone.

General Iroh would kill Zhao, but only once it was safe to do so.

As for the Blue Spirit, Iroh had suspected Zuko for some time now. After all the Blue Spirit had freed the Avatar from Pohuai Stronghold the same night Zuko had been absent from the ship and the stronghold was nearby.

Now, having sorted out the mess that his thoughts had become, Iroh turned around and began the trek back to The Dragon’s Claw, and when he had drawn near it again, he spotted movement in the bridge room and there was a booming sound.

“ZUKO!!” Iroh shouted as he bolted towards the ship, only for it to erupt into flames as something burst from the window he’d seen the movement in.

It was a dragon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Zuko’s screams as he was launched through the window became an inhuman roar as a strange feeling of change overcame him. 

His fingers stretched out into claws as black shiny scales raced to cover his skin. And when he next opened his mouth to scream a torrent of flames erupted from his maw and he was plunged into icy cold waters below. 

But he wasn’t cold.

His thick scale-covered hyde kept the freezing temperatures from permeating him as his inner flame, which had become an inferno, heated him from the inside.

Once he began to make sense of his suddenly very much not human body, Zuko swam back to the surface and then to shore where he found himself met by a very startled Admiral Zhao and his soldiers.

He really did have the worst luck.

* * *

Sokka really had hoped that his growing crush on Princess Yue would help to rid him of his feelings for Prince Zuko, but all it had done was make Sokka unbelievably confused. 

His crush on Yue had only grown his feelings for the jerk bender and now he was on his way to falling for Yue, while still having fallen in love with the son of his greatest enemy. 

The spirits really must hate him because, the way things were shaping up, it didn’t look like he was going to be able to be with either of the two royals. And why did he have to keep falling for royalty anyways? 

He had liked Suki well enough and if the two had gotten more time to spend together, then maybe that could have developed into something more than just fondness and friendship.

Sure being with Suki would have had its own challenges, but at least he could actually see it working out with her in a way that they could actually be a couple.

And to make things worse? Princess Yue seemed just as confused and distressed over this mess of feelings as he was, even if she didn’t know what was behind his own mess of feelings. So when he saw an opportunity to remove a factor of confusion, so it was easier to deal with the leftovers? 

Sokka took it.

After Yue had fled the fight between Katara and Pakku in tears, Sokka had followed her to the bridge and when it finally dawned on him that she might not actually want to date him, he saw a way out.

“Are you okay? I don’t like seeing my friends hurting if I think there is something I can do to help?” He figured letting her think he only wanted to be friends would make things easier for both of them.

“You- Wait? What?” Yue asked, sounding confused and startled out of her sorrows. “Friends? So you haven’t been trying to court me?”

“I just wanted to be friends, so no, I haven’t really been trying to. I’m sorry if it came off that way.” Sokka answered only half lying because he did want to be more than friends, but he would be happy with being just her friend, and while many of his actions could be read as an attempted courtship to most, the warrior wolves of his tribe didn’t follow conventional courtship rules due to their wolf blood. 

No, if he had been trying to court the princess he would have done so in both of his forms.

He would have searched her out in his wolf form to scent her and see if she smelt right to him. 

He would have tracked her by her scent of cinnamon and spiced honey when he became worried about her. He would have grown possessive and protective over her. He would have shown a display of his claim on him when confronted with the knowledge that there was a challenger to his claim over the prince…

Yue didn’t smell like cinnamon and spiced honey… Yue smelt like arctic berries and polar winds that carried an odd ethereal aroma wherever she went. Something he had smelt in the Hai Bai forest briefly and something he sometimes smelt when Aang went into the Avatar State.

And he had reacted to learning about Lee Chen by insisting on carrying Zuko on his back for everyone to see, all but screaming out _“Zuko is mine”_ and then growling and snarling at who he had assumed to be Lee Chen.

Warning that if the other male harmed his Zuko in the slightest, the man would be made to regret it.

He had tracked Zuko by his scent after the Fire Sage’s Temple, worried out of his mind that something may have happened to his fire bender. 

And there he went calling Zuko ‘his’ again, which definitely sounded like something a possessive warrior wolf would do. 

He had attacked Zhao during the festival when he could have just frightened the man off with a display of aggression. He had gone to Zuko as a wolf and drank in his scent which he had quickly become obsessed with…

He was trying to court Prince Zuko and he hadn’t even realized it.

“Sokka? Is everything alright?” Not Zuko asked, and Sokka felt bad that was the way his brain had suddenly decided to call her upon realizing he had been courting the guy who was hunting his best friend.

He was honest this time, “I think I’m courting a guy by accident…”

“Oh?” She sounded confused and maybe a little bit hurt, so he explained the best he could without revealing who it was, and Princess Yue didn’t seem hurt anymore. No, instead she was laughing at him, in a way that wasn’t mean like how Katara had when he’d gotten two fish hooks stuck in his thumb. “Does he know you’ve been doing this?”

“He actually just thinks I’m a normal wolf? So I’d say he’s pretty clueless about it… And he may have mentioned having a crush on human me to wolf me…”

“Well, I think you should go for it then. Sounds like you’ve lucked out!” She replied with a smile.

Sokka sighed and leaned over the railing of the bridge to look at the water down below and said, “Except I missed my chance and he has a boyfriend now… Urgh! This is so frustrating! Promise not to tell anyone?”

“I promise, but I really think you should tell your sister you’re gay. She seems like a good person. I’m sure she’ll support you.”

“I’m actually bi and Katara already knows that. She just doesn’t get along with this guy. He can be kind of… intense.”

Yue then leaned in close and held up a hand to whisper to him, “Well, to make sure that we’re even, I’m bi as well and I’m actually in love with my fiance’s sister.”

After that things were okay between him and Yue, and his feelings were able to quickly become just that of a strong friendship. He felt like things might finally start going his way for once even, but then the black snow came…

* * *

Zuko had tried to fight Zhao’s men and their chains. 

He really did, but at the end of the day he was still new to this body and as such found himself clumsy and uncoordinated in a way that he hadn’t been since he was five or six. 

That had been what prompted Ozai to allow Zuko to train with Master Piandao, in the hopes that he would be cured of it. He was, but Ozai then had to find a new excuse as to why Zuko still had scrapes and bruises that could no longer be explained away by Zuko’s clumsiness.

He had failed, and Zuko was sure he was going to die. 

Just like he’d briefly thought about when he’d first heard rumors about warriors that could turn into wolves. When he had wondered what would happen if he could do the same. The worry that he would be hunted so someone could have the honor of killing a dragon. 

Zuko had been wrong. 

He wouldn’t have turned into a turtle duck. 

Because he turned into a dragon.

Then he caught the smell of jasmine and fire coming towards him.

He turned to look at his uncle, relief washing over him, only for him to freeze and see the look of murder in the man’s eyes, and he suddenly understood how the man had managed to kill not one but two dragons. The look was directed at him, and Zuko felt that relief turn to horror, as he realized why.

The Dragon’s Claw had exploded with him on board, and a dragon had burst out of the window seconds after. There was only one way that this could look to Uncle. That the dragon had killed him, and Zuko knew he was about to become unlucky dragon number three.

Because Uncle wasn’t here to save him.

He was here to kill him.

* * *

The Dragon of the West was going to have his vengeance against the creature that had murdered his nephew. 

He couldn’t make sense of what had happened. 

He had helped to keep the dragons Rah and Shaw hidden along with the Sun Warriors and their Dragon Warriors as well. So why had one of those warriors come and killed his nephew? 

Once all of this was over and he had killed both the dragon and Zhao, he was going to wipe the Sun Warriors from the face of the earth. Following that he would kill every last person that had ever wronged his child, and he would save Ozai for last.

The man could stew in his fear, while Iroh slaughtered the guilty.

But then the small dragon had turned to look at the General, and he was met with the golden eyes of his freighted but relieved nephew. Eyes which turned to terror at the sight of his fury. The dragon even had scales burned away leaving behind leathery skin on the left side of its face and eye, where Zuko’s own scar lay.

His nephew was the dragon, and Zuko now cowered before him in fear, as he had once done with his father Fire Lord Ozai because he believed his uncle, the one person who would never hurt him, had come to murder him.

Uncle Iroh’s heart shattered.

Iroh had to fix what he’d just broken, and not only that, he had to stop Zhao from killing Zuko for the glory that came from killing a dragon. To kill one in chains was pure cowardice in addition to wrong. So he turned to face Zhao and said, “Admiral, we shouldn’t kill this dragon. It can be of use to us during the Siege of the North. The Northern Water Tribe would never expect an attack from the sky.”

Zhao lowered the killing blow he had been about to deliver and looked thoughtful for a moment, before he turned to Iroh and smirked saying, “I believe that you are correct General Iroh. Does this mean you’ve reconsidered my offer?”

“I have.” The Dragon of the West stated. “And I accept.”

* * *

Chief Arnook, upon learning Sokka’s up-to-date knowledge on their enemy decided to take command of the mission away from Hahn and give it to the Wolf Warrior because, the way things stood, Sokka knew their enemy better than they did. Hahn was pissed about it, but Sokka wasn’t bothered by that. He had his mission to focus on.

So that night he snuck onto Zhao’s ship, The Hawk’s Talon, under the cover of darkness where he made quick work of locating a supply closet with spare Fire Navy uniforms. He was lucky because they had one in his size. From there the rest of his mission should have been easy. But it wasn’t, because the moment he opened the door to leave the storeroom Sokka came face to face with Zuko’s uncle.

He hadn’t put the helmet on yet even.

The spirits really must hate him.

“Any chance we can pretend you didn’t see me?” Sokka asked in vain with nervous laughter.

General Iroh looked gravely serious when he replied, “No, I need your help to save Zuko.” And Sokka’s brain ground to a halt. Zuko was in danger. His posture changed instantly from nervousness and panicked to predatory.

“How can I help?”

There looked like there was a sparkle in the old man’s eyes before Iroh gestured for Sokka to put the helmet on and walk with him.

“Admiral Zhao has my nephew prisoner on this ship, I need your help freeing him. The Admiral tried to have Zuko assassinated, and he thinks his attempt was successful-”

“Wait? If he thinks Zuko is dead, how does he also have him prisoner?”

“Because the spirits decided to bless my nephew with the same blessing they gave your tribe. Zuko has turned into a dragon and Zhao had him captured. I need you to teach Zuko how to change back into a human.”

“How did you know-”

“Your reaction to learning Zuko is in danger,” Iroh explained, as they headed down a flight of stairs. “I’ve heard the rumors and met people before who have the same blessing.”

Soon they arrived at a door the lead to the raft launch, and while Sokka wasn’t sure he should trust what he was being told, he didn’t think Iroh would lie about his nephew being in danger. He opened the door and followed Iroh inside.

* * *

The rafts had been moved out of the way to make room for Zuko where he lay chained down and unable to move. 

He knew his uncle was working on a plan to free him, but as of this moment, nothing had come to fruition, and part of him, the untrusting part of him that now questioned his uncle, kept telling him that Uncle had abandoned him to this fate. That Uncle had betrayed him. 

He didn’t know how to make that part of his mind be quiet. He really wanted to trust his uncle, but then he would remember the cold fury in the man’s eyes when he thought Zuko was nothing more than his own murderer.

If it wasn’t for his connection to the sun, he wouldn’t know how long he’d been down here. Zhao didn’t feel a need to feed him, as that would mean removing his muzzle and risking Zuko bathing the room in fire. A low growl rumbled in his throat and his fire screamed for blood.

Lt. Shinzu started for a moment at the sound, and Zuko got an odd sense of satisfaction from it. After all, it was Shinzu who had given him the drugged mask at the festival. The mask-giver gave another start when the door to the raft launch opened and Uncle Iroh and another soldier entered the room. 

The soldier didn’t smell like Fire Nation fire, ash, smoke, and steel or spice. He smelt of wolf fur and seawater. A scent that Zuko already knew from his many visits from the wolf spirit.

Uncle smelled of fire and jasmine.

But he didn’t fully know if Uncle was safe and the wolf spirit wasn’t supposed to be a human.

He rumbled at the pair from behind the makeshift muzzle of chains.

“General Iroh!” Lt. Shinzu, masking giving liar, said startled as he came to attention. “The dragon still is-” But then the imposter soldier rushed forward and cracked a bone club against the soldier’s helmet, and the man dropped to the ground like a sack of flour, only for Uncle to come over, kneel down, and snap Shinzu’s neck.

“Why did you kill him?!” Sokka’s voice shouted, from behind the wolf spirit’s helmet, alarmed and horrified.

“Because I will do whatever it takes to protect my nephew. He is like a son to me.” Zuko’s distrust was somewhat soothed by the steel resolve in his uncle’s voice, but horrified by hearing Sokka’s own when he knew he smelt his friend the wolf.

The wolf spirit… _Angi, don’t tell him Sokka was the wolf!_

“Now tell him how to turn back.”

Sokka approached cautiously, the same way he had when Zhao had attacked the banished prince in the forest, saying, “We don’t have time to talk about this right now, but I promise we can later. Right now I need you to listen to me. I know you are probably confused and freaking out, but changing from one form to another is actually a lot simpler than you would think.

“Just breathe in and feel yourself pulling your current form back inside of you, and then breathe out feeling yourself pushing your other form out and around you.”

Could it really be that simple? Zuko prayed to the spirits that it was.

He didn’t have anything to lose by trying, however, so he followed Sokka’s instructions and took a deep breath in through his nostrils and then let it out, visualizing the pushing and pulling the wolf warrior had mentioned, then he felt the same odd change from the night of his capture overtake him and he shrank back down into a human.

The restraints were for a dragon, and thus no longer held him.

He stared right into artic blue eyes and growled, a flicker of flames on his breath, “You’re the wolf.” 

It wasn’t a question, but Sokka answered anyway.

  
“Yes.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long for this chapter to happen. I had a bunch of stuff happen IRL and had to deal with that. Then I had some writer's block, and then I got sick. Now I am back in the grove and am already hard at work on the next chapter.  
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Zuko was furious. He felt like he had somehow been tricked. Every single time he had taken comfort in his friend the wolf, one of his only friends in the whole world, the first real friend he had ever had, and it turned out the wolf had fooled him. The wolf was Sokka. Not a guardian spirit sent to guide Zuko, but his enemy! Sokka had let Zuko think the wolf was his friend. He hadn’t thought to reveal the truth until he hadn’t been able to deny it.

Zuko wanted to scream out in rage.

“How much did _you_ tell them?!” The dragon blooded prince growled out as his skin buzzed with the power of changing. He tried and failed to hold it beneath his skin but there was still the itch of scales surfacing from that skin and the ache of his hands as they twisted into the claws of a dragon, the growl losing a human quality and becoming deep and reptilian. His vision sharpening, until he closed his eyes.

Eyes that seemed to glow with the fire that raced through his veins like liquid fire.

“What?” Asked the startled not wolf who had tricked him into thinking he had a friend. The Warrior Wolf was startled by the seething anger-filled venom that dripped from Zuko’s words like poisoned honey.

“YOUR FRIENDS!” Zuko snapped. “How many of my secrets have you told them!?”

“Nothing!” Sokka answered, sounding panicked. “You told me that stuff without knowing who I was. I figured that meant I shouldn’t say anything. I haven't told anyone anything.”

The boiling rage seemed to slowly abate at those words. Scales giving way to flesh and claws melting into human hands once more. Zuko let out a slow and steady singular breath before he opened his eyes again. He forced himself to calm, taking steady breaths similar to the ones from his meditation.

The path before him was unnervingly clear and he didn’t need his uncle to see it. Not with the way things were now. The way it stood, he didn’t have any other options. His choice was clear because there was only one that now could be taken.

He had prayed to the spirits when the vile worm slug of an admiral had chained him up and left him here to rot until he could be useful. He had prayed that he would be freed, and now he was. He had asked that they send him a teacher so that he could control these new powers they had forced on him when they had saved his life from the explosion that had destroyed his ship. The place he had called home for nearly three years.

And they had sent him Sokka, the wolf. Someone who had been given the same gift.

There really was only one path and it led to a destiny he had never before considered. But one that would achieve the same goals that his duty demanded of him. One he now willfully submitted himself to.

“Will you teach me to control this?” He began to the shared shock of his uncle and the man who would be his spirit given teacher. “Can you teach me to control these changes? I can not overthrow the Fire Lord if I don’t know how to control this.”

There was a fire behind his molten gold eyes, as he finally revealed his greatest secret for the first time. The crime he had committed against his father when he first knew he had to save the Fire Nation and his people from their Fire Lord.

For the briefest of moments, there were only the sounds of the ship before Sokka finally answered his plea.

“Yes… I can teach you.”

Iroh looked from Sokka to Zuko, who now looked every bit the man the general had hoped him to be, and asked, “Nephew?”

The question behind that one word was plain to Zuko, as he answered, “My father is a poison to our people and it is my Agni given duty to protect the Fire Nation from harm. Whether that harm comes from within or without. If it is Agni’s will that I join the Avatar to remove the threat, then it is my duty to do so. I refuse to fail them. That is my destiny.”

Zuko knew his path and, Agni willing, he would follow it.

* * *

Sokka hadn’t thought that he would be able to convince Zuko to come with him willingly. He definitely hadn’t thought Zuko would offer to come of his own accord. But he was grateful it had turned out like this. Zuko decided that it was Agni’s will that he join Team Avatar instead of continuing to chase them!

It left him reeling.

But the pure conviction in Zuko’s words had left no room for argument or misinterpretation.

How long had Zuko been planning to betray the Fire Lord? To overthrow the evil tyrant that had burned his own son. Sokka wasn’t sure, but he knew better than to look a gift arctic camel in the mouth.

“You should probably put on that dead guy’s armor. It should make getting off the ship easier. We don’t want to raise any questions.” Sokka chirped, happy that the rescuing Zuko mission was going so smoothly.

Zuko gave a nod before he set himself to the task quickly and efficiently removing the guard’s uniform at a speed that suddenly reminded Sokka that he’d missed his shot at being with Zuko because Zuko had Lee Chen.

His stomach twisted angry and jealous, but if Lee Chen made Zuko happy then Sokka would be happy, even if he wished he could be the one to make the beautiful fire bender smile and laugh.

“Uncle, have you managed to find out what the Admiral’s plans for the moon are?”

_Plans for the WHAT?_

“No… Unfortunately, the Admiral is keeping his plans quiet. As of yet, I am still trying to learn if he has told any of the crew what his plans are.” The man sighed. “I am going to stay behind in hopes of learning what he has planned. I will send a hawk once I learn what he has planned, Nephew.”

Sokka wanted to ask, but Zuko had finished dressing in the armor and there wasn’t time.

Once Zuko had fastened the final strap of the armor, his uncle pulled him into a fierce hug, “Come marching home my little soldier boy.”

“I will Uncle,” Zuko vowed, and then he hid his face behind the helmet and marched out from the room with Sokka.

The moment the door had closed behind them, Zuko said, “Let’s go check Zhao’s office for those plans.”

Of course, the spirits would have never let this mission be simple and easy.

Sokka sighed and followed Zuko down a hall silently worrying about how this could all go horribly wrong.

* * *

The spirits must have been smiling down on Zuko because when they reached the admiral’s office, it was empty and there was no one in the hall to see the duo slip inside.

Once inside Zuko scanned the room looking for anything that might stand out, as Sokka started looking at some of the papers on the desk. Zhao seemed to keep his office free of clutter and if there were secret war plans, Zuko doubted that they would be out in the open.

So while Sokka searched the papers on top of the desk, Zuko started checking the drawers. The first of which was locked. That had to be a good sign that whatever was in there was worth looking at, so using his knife, Zuko jimmied the lock.

Inside were a few different pieces of parchment, but the one that caught his eye had his father’s seal on it…

Zuko took it from the draw and opened the letter, written in the elegant high court script of his father, and his blood went cold.

_Admiral Zhao, you have continued to fail me in capturing the Avatar. All of the resources that I have given you and my son has had far greater luck in this task. If he succeeds then I will be honor-bound to welcome the brat home. He has become enough of an embarrassment to me even in his banishment. It is in your best interests that he does not get the opportunity to do so within my own home._

_I have grown tired of your failures._

_Unless you can permanently remove this blight on my lineage, you will not be permitted to go forward with your Seige of the Northern Water Tribe. Do try and make sure that his death can not be traced back to you. It would be most unfortunate if I had to do away with you because his death is publicly known to have come at your own hands._

There was more to the letter, but Zuko didn’t read further. Instead, he showed it in the pocket of his stolen pants and continued to look for plans concerning the moon.

He had always wondered in the back of his mind about if his father truly cared for him, and now he had proof that he had been deluding himself into thinking that the man did. He had known the mission to capture the Avatar was impossible and that he hadn’t been meant to come home. But he had hoped that his father did care.

Ozai did not.

* * *

In the end, they were unable to find anything about Zhao’s plans for the moon, so they made their way to the deck, while the alarm was sound, presumably at the discovery of the dead guard and missing dragon.

No one stopped them in the ensuing panic.

Once on the deck, Sokka found the anchor chain that he had tethered his kayak to and, after pointing the boat out to Zuko, lept from the deck and into the frigid water below.

This was one of those times where Sokka was reminded of why he was grateful for his wolf blood. He had a natural resistance against the cold, but that didn’t stop it from the icy chill from biting into him like an angry tiger shark.

When his head broke through the water and into the chilly night air he was met with the backsplash of Zuko’s own plummet into the icy depths of the sea. Zuko quickly surfaced, with that damp coming off of him in wispy tendrils of steam.

That was so not fair, but at least Zuko wasn’t going to die of hypothermia either.

A few moments later they were both safely in the kayak and paddling away from The Hawk’s Talon in complete silence. There were so many things that Sokka wanted to ask but he didn’t dare risk alerting anyone aboard any of the nearby ships.

He had zero ideas for how he was going to explain this to the chief when they got to the hidden harbor. He had been sent to kill Admiral Zhao, something he really really wanted to do after everything that the rotten beetle roach had done to Zuko, but instead, he had abandoned that in favor of rescuing Zuko.

At least he had vital intel to offset what would probably be deemed a failure of a mission.

When they docked and were back on dry land, Chief Arnook spotted them and immediately came over for Sokka’s mission report.

“Who is this?”

Yeah, the spirits weren’t gonna make things easy for Sokka were they?

“He was being held prisoner on Zhao’s ship. I rescued him.” Sokka answered before Zuko could open his mouth. “The Fire Nation has a secret plan involving the moon. I have a man on the inside trying to get to the bottom of it. We don’t know how many people that the Admiral has told about these plans. So we need to be ready for anything.”

The chief looked thoughtful before nodding.

“Good job, Sokka. I’ll pass the warning to the rest of the warriors. For now, I want you to guard my daughter. You can take your friend with you. So the two of you should change out of those uniforms and I’ll have someone take you to her.”

“Yes, sir,” Sokka answered before he led Zuko away and to the barracks.

Last he’d known Katara and Aang were with Yue.

He was terrified of how he was going to explain this to his sister.

The spirits really had it out for him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Katara, of course, reacted exactly how Sokka had feared she would. She had leaped to her feet shouting a threat and dropping into an attack stance, pulling a whip of water to coil around her, like an angry mink snake ready to strike at a moment’s notice. 

Sokka couldn’t fault her for it. Zuko had spent the past few months trying to capture their friend, and Sokka had just led the guy right to Aang. And she didn’t know that the guy had managed to have a change of heart.

Sokka was however still proud of her reaction skills, even if right now it was super inconvenient.

Having said that, where Katara had reacted exactly how Sokka had thought she would, Zuko did not. And instead of trying to argue his case, the fire bender dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before her in the lowest bow Sokka had ever seen from anyone in his life.

“I’m not here to capture Aang. I am here to help you.” The bowing prince explained quickly before Sokka could say anything in his defense. And maybe Sokka should have expected something like this, considering everything he had come to know about the fire bender these past few months.

At first, Katara didn’t drop her water whip, but after a few understandable moments of hesitation, she finally did and looked to Sokka for answers. The confusion and suspicion she held were painted clearly on her face. 

And a quick glance at Yue revealed a thoughtful face that gave nothing away. But when the princess took her eyes off of the prince and turned to Sokka, she smiled and lifted a finger to her mouth. Miming that she wasn’t going to say anything.

Well, that figured she would realize that Zuko had been the guy he had told her about courting by pure accident. The spirits really must hate him. But he was grateful for Yue’s silence on the subject.

If he knew Katara, and he was her older brother so of course, he knew her, then she would take that news even worse than she had taken Sokka bringing Zuko here with him.

Her older brother, one of her most trusted allies, literally courting the enemy behind her back and never saying a single word about it.

She would be livid.

Sokka turned his attention back to his little sister, who was still waiting for answers, and now he finally provided them to her.

“Zuko is telling the truth Katara. He’s gotten it into his head somehow that it is the will of the spirits or something for him to join us. He even wants to help us get rid of the Fire Lord. He had a whole inspirational speech about it and everything.”

Katara didn’t look convinced, but she did finally slip out of her attack stance as she asked, “And how do you know he didn’t just lie to you, Sokka? This is Prince Zuko! He has been hunting us for months to capture Aang in the name of the Fire Lord. How do you know that you can believe anything he says?”

Sokka wished he could tell his sister just how bad Zuko sucked at lying, but then he would have to explain that he had been meeting the guy in secret pretty much the entire time Zuko had been chasing them. And he couldn’t break Zuko’s trust.

Not that Zuko seemed to trust him anymore though, but he couldn’t really fault Zuko for that though. He had let Zuko think he was just some random wolf and the guy had spilled his every last secret to him, not even realizing who he had really been telling those things to.

Well, he hadn’t known until Sokka had finally revealed that he was the wolf, but Zuko had figured it out the moment Sokka had taken that helmet off and shown his face.

Once again, Zuko beat him to the punch, as he sat up from his bow and retrieved a piece of parchment from his pocket, which he handed to Sokka.

Then the Fire bender had explained calmly like he was delivering a report, “Because my father, the Fire Lord, ordered Admiral Zhao to have me killed. It is all there in that letter. I stole it from the admiral’s office when Sokka freed me.”

“Freed you?” Katara asked, shocked and confused, before the other half of Zuko’s explanation finally caught up with her. “Wait? Your dad ordered someone to kill you?”

Katara looked horrified, as Sokka felt, at the idea that the Fire Lord would do something as horrible as ordering someone to kill his son. But this was Ozai, and Sokka knew from Zuko’s stories about growing up in the Fire Nation Palace, that the Fire Lord had tried to kill Zuko before, only to be stopped by Zuko’s mother.

Zuko averted his gaze before swallowing back tears and nodding.

Sokka read through the letter and he was filled with rage. His wolf blood running hot with blood lust, as the all-consuming need to rend the Fire Lord limb from limb remanded unsated. He was snapped out of his thoughts when elegant hands took the letter from him. Sokka looked up and saw that those hands belonged to Princess Yue.

Her eyes softened as they met his own, before flicking down to the parchment now held in her hands.

Those eyes were suddenly no longer soft. The look of horror and revulsion telling Sokka everything that he needed to know. He was not alone in his bloodlust.

Then she asked, her eyebrows furled in confusion, “If Admiral Zhao was only to attack my tribe on the condition of Zuko’s death, then how was it Zuko ended up a prisoner on the man’s ship? The conditions he was permitted to lay siege were not actually met.”

“He tried…” , Zuko answered. “But the spirits saved me. When my ship was blown up, they blessed me by turning me into a dragon. The same way they blessed the warriors of the Southern Water Tribe to turn into wolves. As far as the admiral is aware, I did die, and he just happened upon a dragon to take prisoner. If it wasn’t for Sokka I would still be stuck as a dragon.”

Yue handed the letter back to Sokka and knelt down in front of Zuko. She cupped Zuko’s cheek and turned his face to her own, so she could look him in the eyes, and said with a gentle smile, “The spirits saved me as well. I owe the Moon Spirit my life.”

* * *

Zuko looked at this woman in shock, but there was something undeniably familiar about her touch, that reminded him of the same touch that he had felt when he’d first turned into a dragon. This touch wasn’t warm with the fires of Agni, but cooling like water brushing against heated skin. 

And as she spoke about having been born sick and weak and being brought to this very place to be blessed by the spirits, he felt something within him soothed and calmed.

“Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.” She finished, before taking his hands in her own and rose to her feet. 

Zuko followed on to his own only a moment behind. Then she led him to the pond, saying, “It was in these very waters that I was blessed. I wasn’t given the power to shift between forms like you and Sokka, but I was given life.”

Looking into the water at the circling koi fish, he was filled with a strange compulsion and he found himself kneeling at its edge and reaching out into the water, only for the black koi fish to suddenly break from it’s circling to press against his hand.

Suddenly he was gone from the oasis and was kneeling in an ethereal swamp and a voice called out from behind him. Zuko jolted to his feet and spun around, coming face to… Well not really face to face because the being that had called out to him didn’t have one. Instead, he was staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at a humanoid column of water.

**_“WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE AM I?!”_ **

He jerked backward as a tendril of water shaped like a human hand reached out for him and pressed against his forehead. Suddenly Zuko found he was frozen where he stood.

The water began to speak once more, with a voice as deep and endless as the sea, “Prince Zuko, you have done well as of yet to listen to the will of the spirits. I am the Ocean Spirit La. This is the spirit world. I have brought you here because I need to speak with you and bestow upon you my own blessing, just as Agni did when he blessed you with the form and heart of a dragon.

“So listen once again to the will of the spirits as you have so diligently done in these past few months.

“In other lives, you have not found the path to your destiny as quickly as you have in this one, and in others, you have found it much sooner. In others still, you have altogether strayed away until the path was lost to you.

“In this life, it is your place to protect my wife the Moon Spirit from being met with her demise. A hawk bearing a message from your uncle will arrive moments after I send you back to the mortal plane. You would do well to succeed in this task or Princess Yue will be the one to pay the price for your failure.”

“The blessing I will bestow upon you will aid you in your journey, but to do so I will share dominion over your soul with that of Agni because you are not one of my children. You will be the shared child of myself and Agni if you accept this blessing.”

Zuko’s mind was confused and reeling, as he tried to process what was happening.

“Have no fear that accepting La’s blessing will offend me in any way, my child.” Another voice spoke, voice rich with warmth and fire, as a column of flames shaped in the flickering form of another human stepped into his field of vision.

This spirit Zuko knew in a single instant to be Agni. The fire in his veins came from the Fire Spirit as did the fire of all fire benders.

Finally, Zuko found his voice and he gave his answer. It was the only one he could because only a fool could refuse the spirits when they offer a blessing.

“I accept.”

* * *

Zuko had knelt by the pond and reached out and the black koi fish had broken from the circle to press against his hand, and his eyes had seemed to glow with dragon’s fire. But the next moment he’d jerked back from the pond, and the fish returned to circling with the other.

Sokka raced forward to kneel by his dragon’s side, but then the cry of a hawk broke the silence that had fallen on the oasis, and Zuko threw out his arm for the bird to land on.

Sokka took the scroll from the creature, right as Zuko blurted out, “Zhao is going to kill the Moon Spirit!”

Sokka paused, scroll half-open in his hands looking at the very words the fire bender had just uttered. Then he stared at Zuko.

“How do you know that?”

Zuko’s eyes flicked over to the koi fish and answered in awe, “Because the Ocean Spirit told me. I think the Moon and Ocean Spirits are those fish.”

“You have got to be kidding me… Aang is looking for them in the Spirit World.” Katara laughed semi-frantic. “This whole time he could have just reached out and touched the koi fish to ask them for guidance.”

“What does Uncle’s letter say?”

Sokka finished unrolling the scroll and read aloud, “Zhao is going to kill the Moon Spirit. The Moon and Ocean Spirits have physical forms and can be killed. Zhao and his most trusted guards have vanished from the ship. I will try to meet you in the Spirit Oasis, but I do not know if I will reach it before Zhao. Be prepared.”

Zuko's face became a fierce mask of determination, as he rose to his feet. There was a fire in his eyes, and Sokka knew Zuko would protect the moon from Zhao with his dying breath if he had to. Sokka jumped to his feet as well mirroring that fierceness, as his wolf blood called out for the blood of the hunt. Between them and Katara, Zhao and his men would fail.

And finally, Sokka would have the chance to kill that bastard.

Katara now spoke, steel and ice in her words, “Then let’s give Zhao the fight of his life. I won’t let him kill the moon. I’d like to see him try. Yue, I need you to protect Aang. If he is still in the spirit world when Zhao shows up, then he will be totally defenseless. Even if Zuko isn’t planning on kidnapping him, Zhao might try if he can’t get the moon.”

The princess nodded solemnly, and rushed over to the monk’s side, taking the club that Sokka offered.

Katara came to stand on the other side of Zuko, and the trio turned to face the entrance to the Spirit Oasis. The stillness before battle settling over them in a deadly silence that none of them could break.

Time seemed to grind to a halt into endless eternity, only marked by the sun sinking behind the horizon, and night falling over them, plunging the world into twilight.

The door to the oasis opened.

It wasn’t Iroh that stepped through.

Instead, they were met by the admiral flanked by five soldiers.

The vile beetle roach widened his eyes in shock, as they met the golden glow of Zuko’s own.

“You’re alive?”

Zuko launched himself forward with a roar, erupting into fire and scales.

His death was quick.

And it was horrible.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

There was a moment of shock in the worm’s slugs eyes, as Zuko launched himself at him, roaring fire, and then there was screaming as his jaws closed around the man’s three-fingered arm.

Bones crunched and he could taste blood.

The man had tried to rape him, and he had tried to kill him, and then he had trapped him in chains.

Zuko had tasted his blood once already, but he was going to do more than just hurt the man. He was going to kill him.

The dragon reared up and spit the man’s arm back out and into the worm slug’s face.

Zhao looked terrified and had turned to run, but Zuko was already reaching back out with his jaws and snapping them closed around the man’s head. The body fell to the ground, and the dragon tasted blood on his tongue.

He crushed the skull between his teeth and turned to face the other five humans that had come here. Their fear rolling off of them like something burnt and bitter. One of the men rushed him, with their spear, but Zuko roared fire at him, and the man was screaming as he fell to the ground burning alive.

The acrid scent of charred meat filled the air.

The remaining four tried to make for the door and were met with the same fate of blood and fire.

Another fire bender entered the oasis only moments later, and the dragon reared back to ready to let loose another jet of flames. But before he could unleash it a massive white wolf barreled into his side.

**_“ZUKO! NO!”_ **Sokka’s voice screamed out in the dragon’s mind.

The flaming column that had erupted from his mouth died down, and he swung his head to look at the wolf. The wolf who had just spoken in his head.

Zuko growled back to the wolf in his head, a chirp of confusion emanating from his form, _“How did you do that?”_

The wolf cocked his head in confusion as he sniffed at Zuko’s face before he pressed his nose to the dragon’s snout.

_“I’m not sure...Are you okay?”_ As the wolf thought those words to Zuko, an intense feeling of worry and love washed over him that wasn’t his own. It was almost dizzying how strong those feelings were.

Zuko looked past the wolf at the fire bender he had been stopped from attacking and to his utter horror he saw his Uncle.

Though that part that had become stupidly mistrustful of the man whispered that the man had deserved it. Zuko wished he could get that part of himself to recognize that Iroh hadn’t known he hadn’t been killed by a dragon when he had come to avenge him.

The dragon looked back to Sokka.

He was not okay. He almost hurt Uncle. He could have killed Uncle.

The wolf licked his cheek and nuzzled him, projecting feelings of calm and safety to the dragon. Zuko let those feelings wash over him as he coiled himself around the wolf and rested his head on Sokka’s back.

_“I think this was the blessing the Ocean Spirit gave me,”_ Zuko hummed into Sokka’s mind as the wolf settled down in those coils. _“Sharing our minds…”_

_“The Ocean Spirit gave you a blessing?”_ The wolf asked with a cock of his head, but the dragon only hummed in response.

He wanted to enjoy the warmth of Sokka’s love. He wanted to drown in its safety.

For a few minutes he was able to, and no one dared to approach the cuddling dragon and wolf, whether it was out of fear or confusion Zuko wasn’t sure. He appreciated it nonetheless. Soon enough however the Avatar’s arrows stopped glowing and he stood up.

Zuko watched the small child, with the wolf, as he glanced around and spotted them.

“I didn’t know there were dragons in the north pole?” The small human said, sounding confused, as he looked to the white-haired human for answers.

She answered, with an awkward smile, “There isn’t. That’s Zuko. He is joining our side.”

The tiny human looked over at the dragon with a big smile, and said, “Well, we are happy to have you! Looks like we’re friends now!”

The water bender looked like she wanted to argue against what the tiny human had decided, but instead, she settled for saying, “The koi fish are the moon and ocean spirits, Aang.”

“I know, but how do you know that?” The tiny human asked confusion back on his face again.

_“Zuko, as adorable as calling Aang a tiny human is, he has a name. When you are in your animal form your brain works differently than it does while you’re human. It might be a good idea to try and train your animal brain to think about people with their names.”_

Zuko cocked his head at the wolf and hummed in response. A moment later he let his dragon form recede back into him and found himself laying across the wolf’s back. A warm feeling of amusement radiating from Sokka through their newly formed bond.

He glared at the wolf as he climbed down from Sokka’s back. He did not scratch the wolf behind the ear. It only looked like he did. Don’t believe anyone who tells you differently.

“Because I talked to the Ocean Spirit,” Zuko answered as he ignored the dead burnt bodies of the men he had killed. He didn’t like the unpleasant twist in his stomach or the way he could still taste blood on his tongue.

He felt like throwing up, but he held the urge back.

Sokka shifted his form back into that of a human and rubbed the fire bender’s back as though to soothe him, and a wave of worry from the warrior wolf washed over him.

Aang laughed and replied, “I talked to this face stealing centipede spirit named Koh.”

Then he went quiet as he looked into the pond, a look of seriousness overcoming his young face, and Zuko could see the loss in the air bender’s eyes. And then the monk was kneeling by the pond and looking at the fish.

“I reached my hand out into the pond,” Zuko supplied as he came to sit next to the child, who the world had chosen to fight its war for them. It wasn’t fair, but Zuko had learned that the world wasn’t fair when his mother disappeared, leaving him alone with his father until Uncle had finally come home, nearly a full year later.

Aang gave a nod and then reached a hand out into the pool of water.

The black koi ceased his circling and pressed his head against the outstretched palm of the air bender.

This time when the Avatar’s eyes began to glow it wasn’t because he was protecting himself or his friends from Zuko, and then the water enveloped the child.

Zuko recognized the form that the water pooled around him in the same form he’d seen in the spirit world. But it was so much bigger now and towered over them like a monster from spirit legends and Zuko felt panic building within him at the sight.

But the Spirit Monster didn’t go after him, instead, it raced off into the city and made its way towards the ocean, and Zuko was suddenly very aware a lot of people were going to die.

At that moment, he was terrified that Lee Chen would be among the dead.

He bolted from the oasis and back out into the city. He had to find the sailor and get him to someplace that was safe.

Sokka chased after him as the fear coursed through their bond.

Was his boyfriend still on one of those ships? Had he made it into the city? Where was he?

If Lee Chen had made it into the city then he would still be near the outer wall and if Zuko was quick enough on his feet then he might be able to save him.

He had to save him.

He couldn’t lose even more loved ones.

He couldn’t lose the man he had fallen in love with.

Zuko didn’t have time to follow the pathways, so he raced up the side of the nearest building and leaped from one roof to the next. Soon he saw soldiers dressed in red and dropped down in front of them.

“Prince Zuko?!” The men, soldiers that he didn’t know, asked in shock.

Zuko growled out, panicked and without patience, “The men from my ship! Where are they!”

One of them gained their wits quickly and pointed back to the front wall of the city. Zuko’s eyes flashed to the soldier's dao swords and he held out a hand.

“Your swords.”

The soldier handed them over, and right as Zuko made to leap over the waterway, he shouted, “We know you stood up for the 41st and what you did to those freedom fighters! May Agni be with you!”

Zuko looked at the man for a moment and answered, “He already is.”

And then he threw himself across the waters and was running fast as his legs would carry him, not knowing if it was dragon’s fire or adrenalin that pushed him faster. He had to save his men, and he had to save his Lee Chen.

He looked towards the ocean, where the Spirit Monster was currently slamming its fists into the armada. He sent a prayer up to Agni that his men weren’t on one of those ships. He prayed that Lee Chen wasn’t on one of those ships.

Zuko threw himself from the building and back to the ground and was running again.

He reached the forward wall and was met with the sight of red fighting blue. Water lashing out at fire, and blood in the blackened snow.

He froze at the sight for a moment.

He had trained to fight in such a battle all of his life, as was the duty of the crowned prince, but he had never once stopped to imagine what the horrors of war would truly look like.

He heard a familiar shout that sounded like Lt. Jee when he would spar with the man.

He turned and zeroed in on what part of the battle it had come from.

Zuko raced into the battle, not knowing what he was about to do. He couldn’t fight his men and he couldn’t fight the Water Tribe if his alliance with the Avatar was to survive the battle.

Jee didn’t see the ice spear that raced towards him, and Zuko threw himself at the man, knocking him to the ground and saving his life.

Then he heard Lee Chen screamed out in pain and Zuko looked away from the lieutenant and towards the sound of a soldier's death cry.

The same spear of ice he had just saved Lt. Jee from had found a different mark.

Lee Chen stood there, the sound of battle fading into the distance masked by shock, as Zuko saw the ice that had made its home in the private’s chest. The blood of love lost staining the ice red with crimson.

Zuko saw the first man he had ever loved fall to his knees and then slump over on the ground dead.

“NO!!!” Zuko screamed as he threw himself from Jee and to his feet.

There was too much blood. The fire bender’s inner flame had melted the ice that had pierced him through too fast for Zuko to do anything to save the man. And Zuko was falling to the ground next to the man and pulling him into his lap.

Lee Chen stayed limp and lifeless. Zuko couldn’t feel the man’s inner flame anymore.

“NO!!! Please- Don’t- You can’t…” Tears mixed with blood that seeped from a body that once held life. Zuko was curling his body around Lee Chen, whaling out his pain. “You weren't supposed to die! I-I never said it back! I never got to tell you- I was going to tell you…”

A hand placed itself on Zuko’s shoulder, and the mourning dragon ignored it.

He’d failed to protect his horde.

* * *

Sokka had to shift into a wolf to keep up with the frantic and inhuman pace Zuko had set, and even then he had trouble keeping up with the terrifying fire bender.

But the moment he felt the screams of pain clawing its way through their bond, Sokka was scared.

He burst out into the open and saw the scene of a battle that had come to a standstill, as Zuko wailed clutching a dead body to him as another man rested a hand on the fire bender’s shoulder.

Lee Chen… He was dead, and Zuko was grieving the loss of the man he had loved

Sokka should be glad that Lee Chen was out of the way, but he wasn’t.

Not when he knew that Zuko had fallen in love and had been happy with the soldier.

Not when he knew what it was to lose a loved one.

Not when he could hear and feel the endless horrible pain that Zuko’s soul was now in.

Not when he loved Zuko and the man’s death caused that pain.

If Sokka could trade his life for the sailor’s own, he would.

He would do anything to take away that pain from Zuko.

Sokka padded over to the sobbing prince and settled himself around him, hoping that somehow his presence would provide Zuko with some form of comfort.

But then Zuko choked out, “I-I never even got to tell him I love him… Not even when the last thing he ever said to me was- The last thing he ever told me was that he loved me.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of April 30th 2020 I have revised all of the chapters leading up to this one and there are now a few new scenes and the flow and format of the fic is now improved.
> 
> Also, I have brought on a second beta reader for this series and she is 1Zukoneedsafamily2! So a big thank you to her for helping make this fic possible.
> 
> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2

Iroh watched from a distance as the wolf curled around his nephew and comforted him, as the boy held the dead body of Private Lee Chen. He had no way of knowing how long Zuko had loved Lee Chen, but he knew what that pain felt like.

He had felt the same pain when his wife had died. He still felt the ache of that pain. Losing Lu Ten hadn’t helped.

He still missed them every day of his life.

Looking away from his nephew and the warrior wolf that loved him, he looked to the approaching forms of Katara and Yue. He held up a hand to stop them from going over to his boys. Jee walked away from Zuko and to check on the rest of the crew of The Dragon’s Claw.

Lee Chen had been the youngest from their crew and he was the only one from their ship that had died. It was cruel and not for the first time Iroh was cursing the spirits that he put so much faith in.

Stealing away the youth long before their time.

Yue looked at Zuko and the man held in his arms and there was a sad thoughtful look on her face.

Katara looked from the scene and to Iroh and asked, “Who… Who was he?”

Iroh looked away and back to his nephew’s shaking form and answered solemnly, “His name was Lee Chen, and he loved my nephew… I need to go check on the crew from our ship. Everyone loved the boy.”

* * *

Yue looked away from the scene in front of her and touched a hand to the pendant of her necklace.

She thought of Talana and what how the girl would have grieved if she had met her end. Lost to her before, they could even have a life together. Yue knew what she had to do.

Her eyes scanned the mix of red and blue clad soldiers until she’d found Hahn.

She walked over slowly, the weight of what she was about to do crushing like the whole of the ocean bearing down on her.

The warrior was looking down at his hands in horror, facing Zuko and Sokka.

“Hahn…”

He looked up at her from his hands, and pleaded, “I-I- He was- I wasn’t aiming for him…”

Yue swallowed and reached behind her head to untie the knot on her necklace. She held the necklace in her hand for a moment, looking down at it, knowing she was going against the customs of her people.

“I’m sorry… I can’t marry you,” Following those words she gently set the necklace down into his hand and closed his fingers around it.

“I- What? Yue, I didn’t mean to kill him. I was aiming for the other ash maker-”

She cut him off, with a raise of her hand, and looked him in the eyes.

“I can’t marry you because I don’t love you. I’m in love with your sister, Hahn.” Yue said calmly. “One day I am going to die, and I want to spend my final moments with Talana. I want to spend every moment of my life with her. I hope you understand.”

“If anyone saw you kill that boy, you need to leave now… Before Zuko comes looking for you. He was in love with the man you killed and he is like Sokka. He will kill you.”

Hahn looked over at Zuko, and then back to her before he handed the necklace back to Yue saying, “Give this to Talana. Tell her goodbye for me.”

And with that Hahn fled.

* * *

Once Zuko had spent his tears, he let Uncle take Lee Chen from him and felt numb as he began to gather his people’s dead.

He laid them side by side with the help of his crew. Sokka had tried to help but Zuko had stopped him.

“These are my dead, not yours, but I’ll need a lantern… For the ones who were on the ships. I need to perform funeral rites for them. Their souls need to be brought to Agni, so they can live in the sun,” Zuko felt hollow and empty, and let himself latch onto the feelings Sokka sent through their bond. He let himself pretend that they were his own and that he wasn’t empty.

Even if it was just for a moment.

He pretended that he didn’t remember seeing a lantern in the sky one morning a week after he’d learned his mother had disappeared.

Once the dead had been gathered, Zuko called on his flame and burned them, sending up a prayer to Agni that they would find their way home to live with him in the sun.

He watched broken and empty as the bodies burned.

Jee stood next to him, as the fires burned, and the two stood there quietly for a few minutes, before the man asked, “How are you alive? I saw the explosion…”

“Agni saved me. Apparently, the Fire Nation can turn into dragons.”

The two stood in silence after that.

* * *

Sokka watched from a distance, as Zuko stood still.

He couldn’t feel anything from the fire bender right now, but he kept pushing out feelings of comfort through the bond.

Iroh came to stand next to the warrior wolf and said, “He needs to grieve. Be there for him, and when he’s ready to open his heart to love again, he’ll give you everything he has to give.”

The old man then took the paper lantern from him and walked over to Zuko.

Sokka wished he could take that empty feeling from Zuko and replace it with something soft and warm, but he didn’t know how.

When his mother had died, Sokka had turned into a wolf and run away for nearly a year. He hadn’t been able to help his family through their grief. He wasn’t going to do that to Zuko. It had taken forever to fix things with Katara when he’d finally come home.

He waited until after Zuko had sent the lantern off and into the sky before he finally made his approach.

“I know right now, you’re hurting, and you won’t want to talk about it, but when you’re ready, I’ll be here,” Sokka said as he pulled the fire bender into a hug.

Zuko was quiet for a few moments before he melted into the embrace, and a raw aching pain emanated from Zuko. Sokka held him all the tighter. He wasn’t about to let Zuko be alone in his pain.

* * *

After he had pulled away from Sokka’s embrace he was met by the Fire Navy soldiers who had not been killed during the battle. He wondered what they thought of their prince, standing before them wearing Water Tribe blue.

Did they think of him as a traitor to their people? Were they angry he hadn’t managed to save their fallen comrades? Were they here to kill him and carry out the rest of the siege?

Lt. Jee and his crew from his ship stood at the front of the group, and then Jee kneeled before him and bowed. Zuko was sure that when the man stood up there would be an imprint of his face in the snow.

“Prince Zuko, these men are ready to swear themselves to you, as the true Fire Lord. We told them about the truth behind the slaughter of the 41st and how you tried to prevent it. We told them what you did when you learned about the Freedom Fighters and the Fire Lord’s failure to protect the people of that town,” Jee announced, as the rest of the soldier's bowed down to him. “We are ready and willing to serve you if you will have us. You have always had the Fire Nation’s best interests at heart. To serve you, and you alone would be the greatest honor.”

Zuko stood frozen where he stood, in some numb semblance of shock, before he said, “Are you sure? You might not like what I have planned.”

“We are sure as the sun above, my lord.”

_Okay,_ Zuko hadn’t been expecting that. Visceral hatred maybe, but not _this._

Zuko looked at the men, _his men_ , and that fierce protective urge welled up inside of him, with even more ferocity than when he had fought Jet.

“If you’re sure,” Zuko began. “I am joining the Avatar. My uncle will be coming with me, and when Aang is ready, General Iroh will teach him fire bending. I need some time to figure out what I will need all of you to do, but I assure you that your skills will not be wasted. This war has done nothing but harm everyone that it touches. Families have been torn apart and it has brought shame to our people. Meet me here tomorrow morning and I will have your assignments. Until then help the Northerners to rebuild. You are dismissed.”

The men, _his men_ , rose and bowed at the waist forming the symbol of flame with their hands, and then dispersed.

Zuko could feel the swell of pride from Sokka through their bond. Even without that assurance from the wolf, Zuko knew he was doing the right thing.

“So now what?” Sokka asked as Zuko watched Katara rush off to greet now a not Spirit Monster Aang.

Zuko looked back at Sokka and answered, “Now? I learn how to fly.”

And by that Zuko meant jumping off of Appa and hoping for the best because that’s how baby birds learn how to fly. And dragons should work off of the same principle. Despite what Sokka may think about dragons and birds learning to fly being two entirely different things.

But maybe if Zuko had known how to fly he could have saved Lee Chen.

Maybe if Zuko had turned into a dragon and taken the ice spear to his hyde, Lee Chen wouldn’t be dead.

Maybe if Zuko had just done something other than leaping into action, a lucky charm wouldn’t be the only thing Zuko had left of the soldier.

So Zuko did the only thing he knew how to do, and he leaped over the edge of the precipice.

His first attempt at flight was a spectacular failure and he nose-dived straight into the icy waters below.

His second attempt went about the same. And so did his third and his fourth and his fifth.

Sure he figured out that spreading out his wings slowed his descent to a gradual glide towards the water as did flapping his wings, but he still wasn’t quite getting the hang of it. Birds made it look easy and that wasn’t fair at all.

On his sixth attempt, he paid attention to how Appa seemed to thrust himself into the sky, and finally, something seemed to click. While the sky bison seemed to be using air bending to create that lift, Zuko would have to do the same.

Birds and dragons learning to fly were two entirely separate things. Birds had hollow bones and dragons did not.

Dragons were enormously heavy creatures, and they shouldn’t be able to achieve lift quite so easily. Not unless he loosened the air above and in front of him with his fire…

Well, it was worth a shot… 

So this time when he leaped from Appa’s saddle and shifted into a dragon, he spread his wings and using his bending finally achieved true flight. It was exhilarating and Zuko never wanted to land. But he quickly lost the proper equilibrium of warm air above him and plummeted back into the water.

But he had done it! He had flown! He hadn’t just glided back down to the water!

When Zuko finally returned to shore, Sokka raced over to greet him, as a wolf and lapped at his face, tail wagging back and forth fast enough that Zuko couldn’t help but imagine the wolf taking flight with just the lift created from his wagging tail.

_“You did it!”_ Sokka cheered into his mind. _“I mean you looked like an idiot the first few times, but you finally got it!”_

Zuko’s blood went cold, and he asked in horror, “You saw…”

The wolf stopped wagging his tail and cocked his head, before thinking to him, _“The moonlight was glittering off of your scales, Zuko…”_

Zuko glanced up at the moon and saw just how bright the full moon was actually shining. A moment later he buried his face in his hands and groaned because of course, he hadn’t thought about that. All he had thought about was it was night time and he was a black dragon. Maybe in the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom that would have been enough to mask him from viewers, but this was the north pole. And the snow was more than happy to betray him by reflecting the moonlight back up into the sky.

He might as well have been flying in broad daylight.

He really didn’t think these things through.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta readers h_faith_marr and 1Zukoneedsafamily2 and guest beta reader 4NationsInHarmony
> 
> Also, there is going to be 16 total chapters for book one of Better Than Hunting. Looks like I'll be finishing book one at a little over 40,000 words. : )

Zuko wasn’t given long to be mortified by the fact everyone had seen the disaster that had been his first attempts at flight however because Chief Arnook was headed his way.

The man looked confused and thoughtful, trailed by his daughter Princess Yue.

Zuko’s soldiers grasped their weapons tight in their hands, as the man came to stand in front of him.

“Chief Arnook,” Zuko greeted, as Sokka stayed by his side.

The man looked from Sokka to Zuko before he said, “My men informed me that the Fire Nation soldiers that survived the siege answer to you now. That they call you the true Fire Lord. Is this correct?”

Zuko gave a singular nod, wary of the way this might turn out.

“My daughter says that you saved the Moon Spirit from being murdered by Admiral Zhao.”

His stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch as he remembered a skull being crushed beneath his teeth, but he pushed it down in favor of answering, “Yes, I did. I have also allied myself with the Avatar and intend to defeat my father.”

Chief Arnook looked perturbed by Zuko’s statement but pushed on, “So you are Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. How do I know that I can trust that this isn’t some ploy to lure my people into a false sense of security?”

“Really?” Zuko growled. “I could have killed any number of your warriors at any given moment since I entered the city, but I haven't. I even ordered  _ my people _ to assist your people in rebuilding what was damaged in the siege. Do not insult my honor-”

But then Iroh was there and butting in saying, “I’m sure what my nephew means is that he would be more than happy to make a more formal alliance between your forces and our own.”

Zuko turned to snap at his uncle, but then the Chief was saying, “A formal alliance? What would you have to even offer my people? Our forces outnumber your own a hundred to one.”

“Are you seriously that stu-” Zuko started to shout, but then Sokka covered his mouth and interrupted.

“Think about it this way. These soldiers just became traitors to the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation doesn’t even know they have. Not yet at least. They have valuable intel.”

The hand dropped from Zuko’s mouth now, and he glared at the warrior wolf for a moment, before turning to face Arnook again and saying, “We do, and we would be happy to share it with you once we have brokered a formal alliance.”

Chief Arnook was quiet for a heartbeat before he relented and agreed, “Then let us discuss the terms. As for your men, they can sleep in the meeting hall of my people. Let one of your men know, so he can tell the rest of your soldiers. After that, you and your uncle will follow me to my home where we will talk.”

“Sokka is coming as well,” Zuko said firmly. “He is good at making plans and I would value his input.”

“What? Really?” The Warrior Wolf asked dumbfounded.

“Of course, you got me off of Zhao’s ship and pointed out the value I hold to the Chief.”

And with that Zuko strode off to where the closest one of his soldiers was and let him know about the sleeping arrangement, before rejoining the Chief and following the man to his house.

Along the way, the Chief had called out to a man around Uncle’s age and the man, Pakku, joined their group.

It didn’t take them long to reach Arnook’s home, which while the nicest building he had seen so far, was by no means a palace.

Once inside they sat down around a table and the discussions began.

“What is it that you have to offer us aside from intel on the Fire Nation?”

Zuko froze, but Iroh didn’t.

Iroh smiled and said, “We currently are without resources, but if you are willing to get our men to the shores of the Earth Kingdom, then we will be able to begin to gather some. It is a very low investment that could pay off for you. All you have to do is provide us with aid once we have the resources to give in exchange. And we know that the Fire Lord will come for your people regardless of if you help us. So why not make some allies, who can distract your enemies from those endeavors while you prepare?”

Chief Arnook was quiet for a moment before he relented, “That is fair enough I suppose but there are many finer details which we will need to go over.”

And they did. They went over it for hours, before they finally had come to an agreement that everyone liked.

Zuko was exhausted by the time they had finished drawing up and signing the treaty of alliance and while part of him wanted to go and sleep for a thousand years, the rest of him knew that he had a long time before he finally would be able to go to sleep. He just had too much to do before he could even think about it.

So once they left Arnook’s house, Sokka led them to the meeting hall, before he stood there awkwardly for a moment looking at Zuko, before managing a “sleep well” and taking off for wherever it was he was sleeping.

Sokka had felt flustered through their bond, and Zuko didn’t know what he was supposed to make of that. He was still too numb to know how he even felt about it himself.

Still, once Sokka had disappeared around the corner, he made a point of ignoring his uncle’s smile and walked inside.

A quick glance around revealed that most if not all of his men had made their way in and were now asleep, aside for the dozen or so closest to the doors who seemed to be keeping watch.

Zuko nodded at them, as he passed them to check on the rest of his  horde men and when he didn’t find anything alarming or to worry over, he made his way over to the raised platform that his men had already set up two sleeping rolls on. He could only assume that those were meant for his uncle and himself.

He could hear the whispers of the men by the door, once they thought that he was out of hearing distance.

“So you really think that Prince Zuko was that dragon?”

“It only makes sense. I was there when the admiral captured the dragon. It has the same scar as the Prince… Should we even be calling him that though? I mean he is going to be Fire Lord when all of this is over. So why not just start calling him that now? I mean the False Fire Lord doesn’t stand a chance against a dragon.”

Zuko frowned as he sat down on his bedroll and began to wonder about what he was going to need from his soldiers.

He didn’t want any of them to die. He would rather they not kill any other Fire Nation soldiers, as he had a duty to protect all of his people. Not just the ones who had sworn their loyalty to him.

There was no easy way to do this.

Still, he was going to be Fire Lord when all of this was over, and he now had a fair number of soldiers to command.

What was it even that had won him their loyalty?

Lt. Jee stepped up onto the stage and sat down in front of him, and said, “I figure you have no plans on sleeping tonight, my lord. If I can be of any assistance, then just tell me how.”

“Why did these men swear themselves to me? I don’t understand it.”

Jee gave a hearty chuckle at that and answered, “You have The Dragon’s Claw to thank for that. We found out about your scar and made sure to tell every soldier we came across about how the Fire Lord challenged you to an Agni Kai over you trying to protect people like us. And then we told them about what you did in Gaipan. How you were willing to lay down your life for commoners. Most of these men are from poor families and enlisting was the only way they could provide for their families. We trust that when you’re Fire Lord, our lot in life is going to be a lot better because you won’t throw away our lives like the last few have been more than happy to.”

“You see us as people and not a means to an end. You have already fought for us. We want to do the same for you.”

Zuko sat quietly for a few moments mulling that over before he finally said, “I need help deciding what they should be doing. I don’t want any of them dying for me and I don’t want any of our enemies to be killed because our enemies are still our own people.”

Jee gave a nod and said, “So, what if those who can rejoin the navy without raising suspicion do so and act as spies? Some of them might even be able to get more to join us.”

“You don’t think we would actually be able to take away my father’s entire army like that,” Zuko sighed, as he sagged. The weight of what he was getting himself into finally settling on his shoulders.

“No…” Jee began. “But we don’t need to turn the higher-ups to our cause. An army is nothing without its foot soldiers.”

Zuko looked up from his knees at Jee.

The man smiled at him and added, “The higher-ups don’t care about their soldiers. Give the men a leader who cares about if they live or die and it isn’t a choice. They will desert to our side. So while we can’t steal Ozai’s entire army, we can cripple him by taking the part that gives him power.”

“Then let’s do that,” Zuko returned, with steel in his voice, before he said, “As for those who can’t manage that long term, we’ll have them take a ship, for you to be captain of. You and the others who won’t be taken back by the army will protect colonies that are being attacked. The Fire Lord isn’t doing that.”

The lieutenant regarded him critically for a moment before asking, “What about those who stand in our way… I know you don’t want casualties from the Fire Nation, but this is a war. There will be those who stand against us.”

The dragon sighed and took a moment to consider what it actually was that he had just been asked.

Ozai stood in Zuko’s way of protecting his people and he was going to have the man killed by the Avatar,  _ who was a child,  _ but what about the soldiers who decided to stand in his way? They were his people and he was supposed to protect them as well.

He couldn’t protect the rest of his people if he allowed them to live.

His answer left a bitter taste in his mouth, but there were no other options, “Anyone who stands in our way will be considered an enemy to the safety of my people. If they choose to stand against us, then we will have to kill them. I don’t like it, but if that is what it comes to, then do it.”

This was war, and he didn’t have a choice.

They talked about which soldiers would need to be doing what and who would be the best for which jobs. It took hours and the sun was rising in the sky before they were done.

They had a plan and there was no going back.

He emerged from the meeting hall that he hadn’t slept in, flanked by Lt. Jee and his uncle, as the morning rays of Agni’s light shone off from his borrowed armor.

They walked in silence to where he had told his men to meet him in the morning.

His soldiers looked to him when they spotted him and came to attention.

Zuko scanned the gathered soldiers and waited until every last one of his men had arrived.

There were a few Water Tribe warriors watching them from a distance, but that didn’t matter. Those were his allies now.

Finally, he spoke.

“Last night I made an official alliance with the Northern Water Tribe and I spoke with Lt. Jee about what it is I will need from each and every one of you. We are going to be fighting against our homeland. Understand I would not ask you to do this if I did not believe there was another option, but Fire Lord Ozai has not given us that option.”

“It is not the common soldier that I want you to fight. It is their commanders who refuse to join us. It is those who would willfully stand in our way of protecting our people. Those who would let your families die in the poverty that they have forced your families into.”

Zuko paused for a moment and he thought back to the conversation he had overheard the night before.

“We are fighting a Fire Lord and his generals who sacrificed an entire division of new recruits. We are fighting men like General Bujin who proposed that plan. A plan that I spoke out against, while still in the war room. I shamed you during my Agni Kai with my father by begging for his mercy. I did not fight for you in that battle. But I rectified that mistake in Gaipan when Earth Kingdom terrorists destroyed that village.”

He felt that tingle of change beneath his skin, and he grabbed at it trying to hold it back, as his emotions built within him. Angry and protective and wanting to bite and tear at his enemies.

“I will not shame you the next time I am face to face with my father,” He declared, as he pulled out his dagger that he had kept on him through all of this and then grasped the base of his phoenix tail and then cut.

He then threw the hair to the ground and shouted, “A coward who refuses mercy and thinks that the actions of a  _ child _ can dishonor him when he already has no honor. A Fire Lord is meant to protect their people. He is meant to give his subjects mercy.”

Zuko paused again and then decided that if these men would swear themselves to him, then he would do the same. And they should know exactly who it was that they followed.

“I swear upon the lights of Agni undying, that I will do everything within my power to save our people and never dishonor you again. If you will serve me then I will serve you. The Fire Lord scarred me when I was a child who spoke against him, I would like to see him try and do the same thing to me as I am now. A dragon who wages war against him.”

His control slipped for a single moment that in retrospect was perfectly timed.

The transformation wasn’t complete, but scales burst from his skin, as did his claws and horns and wings. And taking full advantage of his slip, he spread his wings out and turned his face to the sky letting fire erupt from his mouth with a roar.

Once he was sure that he’d made a good show of his powers, he breathed in and drew the inhuman features back into his skin.

Then he turned his eyes back to his people and growled, “General Jee will give you your assignments and tell you where you rank within our order.”

General Jee looked over at him in shock and then composed himself, not having expected the promotion, but taking it in stride.

Then a look crossed his face, and Jee turned to their men and shouted, “We shall henceforth be known as the Order of the Black Dragon!”

Now it was Zuko’s turn to be shocked.

Did Jee really just decide to name their forces after him? And before Zuko could argue against the vanity of naming his forces after himself, he stopped and noticed the looks on the faces of those who’d sworn themselves to him and he saw pride and certainty staring right at him.

“Nephew, your eyes are still filled with dragon’s fire,” His uncle said with a smile, before adding, “And I think the name that General Jee has chosen for our forces is perfect, my lord.”


	15. Chapter 15

It made sense that the Northerners would want his men out of their city as quickly as possible and within hours of Zuko having given his men their missions, they were loaded onto ships and sent away. Zuko was sure that if his place wasn’t with the Avatar he and his uncle would have been on one of those ships.

Zuko made sure to be there to farewell his men, praying to the spirits that these men would not be dying in his name. He already had blood on his hands.

It had been there ever since he had failed the 41st and during the siege, he had only added to it.

He felt a swell of love come through the bond, as Sokka made his approach.

"Are you okay, Zuko?"

Zuko managed to tear his eyes away from the dark ocean water, hypnotic in its mysterious and yet dangerous beauty, to look at the Warrior Wolf, and suddenly he found himself reminded of standing on the deck of The Dragon’s Claw with a tall brown-eyed private.

Golden eyes met eyes that were blue instead of brown.

Confusion filling him alongside his sorrow.

Sokka was not Lee Chen.

Not even if the first time Lee Chen had kissed Zuko, the prince had pretended that Lee Chen had been Sokka.

He had pretended that brown eyes were blue and now he had paid the price of having fallen in love with those brown eyes, that he still saw when he closed his eyes.

Zuko looked away and knew he would never be able to pretend that blue eyes were brown.

Sokka sighed and came to stand next to him saying, “After my mother died… I ran away and lived in my wolf form for a whole moon. When I came home, Katara refused to speak to me. She refused to speak to anyone really. It took a long time before any of us were okay. I still miss her… So if you need someone to talk to about Lee Chen, I want you to know I won’t run away… Not this time.”

Zuko let Sokka pull him into an embrace, and he let himself take the comfort that the wolf freely offered him.

“It sounds like we will be leaving tomorrow. Pakku has just a few more things he needs to go over with Katara,” Sokka said softly, as Zuko allowed the warrior to hold him.

Zuko felt everything from the past few days hit him, and he realized just how tired and hungry he was. He hadn’t slept since Sokka rescued him from Zhao’s ship, and he hadn’t eaten anything since he was captured a few weeks ago by the now-dead worm slug.

“Let’s get you some food and then you are going to get some sleep.”

Zuko decided not to fight. Having someone else take charge right now was what he needed. The world pressing down on his shoulders being taken away from him, even if for just one moment alone.

“I’m sure Yue won’t mind you joining us for lunch,” Sokka soothed, holding the fire bender against him, and Zuko felt a sudden shock go through him.

Was Sokka… He was dating Yue?

Zuko didn’t have a right to find himself suddenly upset about that. He didn’t have any claim to Sokka. He may have told the wolf about his crush… Oh Agni no.

He had told  _ Sokka  _ about his crush on  _ Sokka! _

And it didn’t help that even after he had fallen in love with Lee Chen, that those feelings hadn’t faded one bit. If anything the way Sokka had rescued him and now held him, it only made them grow stronger than before.

And Sokka had found someone else to love.

Zuko would be okay. Sokka was allowed to find love. Zuko had found it once already with Lee Chen, and Sokka deserved to find the same thing.

Besides so soon after losing Lee Chen, Zuko wasn’t sure he would be able to open himself up to be loved again. One day, but not today.

He let Sokka hold him until he’d calmed down from his panic, and then Sokka led him away from the water.

Zuko wished he still had Lee Chen.

But Sokka kept a hand pressed to the small of Zuko’s back and guided him through the streets, like some sort of grounding force that kept Zuko from floating away into the oblivion of his thoughts. And Zuko was grateful for it.

Soon they were arriving outside of Chief Arnook’s home again, and Sokka was knocking on the door.

Yue answered it and led them inside.

There was another young woman at the table that Zuko had sat down at the previous night. She smiled at them, and then Yue sat down next to the girl and kissed her on the cheek.

“Sokka, Zuko, this is Talana. I have proposed to her.”

Zuko’s mind ground to a halt.

Sokka smiled at Yue as he sat himself and Zuko down, cheering, “Congratulations! What does your father think?”

Yue wasn’t Sokka’s girlfriend?

She smiled back awkwardly and answered, “He doesn’t actually know yet. I am going to tell him this evening when I announce my engagement to the tribe.”

Zuko glanced between Sokka and Yue, suddenly horrifically aware that Sokka was still single. But he chose to not approach the edge of falling in love this time. He wasn’t ready.

He didn’t realize that everyone else had begun to eat until Sokka picked a piece of meat off of a plate and held it out to Zuko expectantly.

“Zuko, you need to eat,” Sokka ordered, with a stern look on his face and worry radiating from him.

That concern was soothed when Zuko took the meat from Sokka and popped it into his mouth.

As soon as he closed his teeth down on the meat to chew, Zuko was reminded of the taste of human blood on his tongue and a skull being crushed between his teeth. He felt sick.

The dragon felt bile rising up in his throat and he was stumbling away from the table to vomit out the window. Sokka only a step behind, and then there rubbing warm circles into his back, trying to soothe him, as he finished emptying his stomach of the memory of human flesh only to slump against the warrior and sob.

He ate a person. Sure Zhao deserved to die, but Zuko fucking ate the guy!

* * *

Sokka wished that there was something that he could do something to make Zuko feel better, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was hold the broken fire bender in his arms and let him cry himself out.

Zuko had held himself together putting on a strong face for his men, but the moment they had gone, Zuko had fallen apart.

Yue and Talana looked concerned but didn’t intervene, as Yue leaned over to whisper something in the girl’s ear, presumably about why Zuko had suddenly decided that food no longer belonged in the stomach.

Which was totally understandable, seeing as he ate a guy, but Sokka did not see a world where a dragon was going to decide to adopt a vegetarian diet.

Sokka let Zuko fall apart in his arms.

All of the emotions of panic and horror and revulsion that poured from Zuko broke Sokka’s heart. The fire bender deserved to be happy, and yet here he was suffering. Here he was having led one of the most heartbreaking lives Sokka had ever heard of.

And Sokka didn’t know how to fix it.

Maybe that was because he had run away when he would have learned how. Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure how much comfort Zuko would allow himself to accept from Sokka when the warrior wasn’t a wolf.

And he would shift his forms if there wasn’t furniture so nearby that he would undoubtedly break something. So instead, he let part of his wolf form leak through into his human form, so Zuko could still press his face into the softness of Sokka’s fur.

And Zuko did just that, a pang of safety and relief coming through Zuko’s side of the bond.

Once he had finally soothed Zuko, the fire bender pulled away from Sokka, embarrassment, and shame radiating from him.

_ “You’re okay, Zuko. None of us are going to tell anyone about this,” _ Sokka thought to the fire bender, who in response just glared at him, and seemed to calm.

Zuko seemed to fare better with the soup Sokka offered him.

* * *

Zuko wasn’t sure where he and his uncle were meant to be sleeping that night, but it seemed that Sokka had decided where Zuko was going to be sleeping after lunch.

Maybe Zuko should have fought Sokka on it, but they were already in the hut that Sokka must have been sleeping in with his friends.

And before Zuko could tell Sokka he didn’t actually need to sleep, the warrior had shifted into his wolf form and curled up on the large cushion that covered the majority of the floor and looked at Zuko.

_ “Sleep.” _

Zuko groaned, but he relented and curled up against the soft warm fur. He doubted he was going to sleep well, but this was the wolf. He was safe.

At least until he wasn’t and he was dreaming he was being held down and burned.

But then there was the snarling of the wolf and whoever was holding him against the tree was tackled off of him. Zuko had the use of his limbs this time and turned to see Sokka chasing Zhao off. And then the forest melted away into snow and ice.

The wolf turned back towards Zuko and shifted back into Sokka.

“I think you were having a nightmare,” Sokka said awkwardly before asking, “So is this a part of that spirit gift as well?”

Zuko walked over to join the warrior wolf where he stood, and answered, “I guess so.”

The Sokka smiled at him and asked, “Hey, you ever had a snowball fight?”

Zuko shook his head no, and then Sokka was grinning like a mad man.

“Well, then it is my job to change that!”

The fire bender frowned, confusion seeping into him, as he answered, “But I’m a fire bender and you can’t even bend? How are we-”

But whatever he had been about to say was cut short when the warrior bent down and scooped up a handful of snow and lobbed it at him.

And just like that Zuko understood the game.

It wasn’t about sparring or bending. It was just as the name suggested.

He dodged the next volley of snow that Sokka sent flying his way and grabbed a handful of snow himself before throwing it directly at the wolf’s face.

Sokka fell back to the ground and went still.

The dragon raced over to kneel at the Water Tribe Warrior’s side, worried he had somehow hurt Sokka, but then the other male leaped on top of him and pushed him to the cold ground laughing.

Zuko was quick to react and what had been meant to be a snowball fight turned into the two shifters wrestling with each other in the snow. They must have been at it for hours. Just playfully fighting in the snow, until one would escape the hold of the other and dart off far enough away to scoop up another ball of snow and lob it at the other.

The fire bender couldn’t remember a time in his life where he had laughed this hard or felt so carefree.

He was just existing in this simple perfect moment, laughing and playing with Sokka.

It was like when he had snuck around the ship with Lee Chen or sat with him at the festival watching the fairly awful puppet show.

If he could live in this one single moment for the rest of his life, then Zuko thought he could be happy for eternity.

He knew he would have to wake up and endure the real world where things wouldn’t be filled with the simple joy of roughhousing in the snow. But for the moment, and this moment alone, Zuko let himself be lost in it. Sinking into the soft lulling bliss of a snowball fight.

It was some of the best sleep Zuko had gotten in years, and when he finally woke up, it was with the morning rays of the next day, snuggled against the soft warm fur of the wolf’s flank.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter for book one of Better Than Hunting is finally here! : )  
> Book two will start being posted once I have the first 5-10 chapters finished. I am going to still be posting other fics in the meantime. Such as Hello Darkness book one and some one-shots and side fics. One of which is going to be one of the side-books for Better Than Hunting. AKA the backstory I made for Longshot because it factors into Better Than Hunting. That one is currently going to be called In The Woods.
> 
> And to those who might wonder when Better Than Hunting will be totally finished, as long as I haven't posted my fic The Truth About Momo then there is still more content to come. ; )
> 
> For now enjoy the Pai Sho chapter.

The sun was high in the sky by the time everyone had loaded themselves onto the boat, headed for the Earth Kingdom, and Iroh’s nephew had already taken to staring out at the water. And the sight, while familiar after three years on a ship with Zuko, had an air of mourning to it.

The Warrior Wolf must have felt the sorrow that lay within his nephew’s soul, as he hesitated for a moment before walking over to stand next to Zuko.

Iroh wasn’t blind to the energy between the two. Not when he had seen the way Zuko’s posture had shifted the first time he had laid eyes on Sokka in the South Pole. There was some sort of connection between the two of them that had existed long before the Ocean Spirit had linked their minds together.

That connection had baffled Iroh for months.

And during those months of silent questioning, that connection had only seemed to have grown stronger.

Sokka’s reaction to Zuko during that nonsense with the pirates had been telling. Iroh had taken one look and harbored no illusions as to the nature of the warrior’s feelings for his nephew. A reaction that had simply grown stronger with every encounter between them.

It hadn’t been until he had walked in on his nephew and Lee Chen that he understood the subtle shift in posture Zuko made whenever he spotted Sokka.

His nephew had feelings for Sokka and Sokka was flat out in love.

A sudden realization hit Iroh at that moment and he thought back to when he had heard Lee Chen cursing from the raft room…

And the idea that he had quite nearly walked in on Zuko and the private being intimate was a realization that Iroh could do without if he was being completely honest.

Thankfully he could trust the warrior with Zuko’s well being, so he turned away and looked over at Pakku, who was watching the two boys closely.

“I trust that you didn’t neglect to bring a pai sho board, old friend,” Iroh said with a smile.

Pakku looked away from Zuko and Sokka to glare at him and scoffed, “Of course I brought a pai sho board. I wouldn’t dream of passing up the chance to finally beat you.”

Following that the man called out to one of his tribesmen to bring out the pai sho board and set it up for them on the deck of the ship.

Iroh smiled serenely, as he sat down across from his friend. Pakku had always tended to be brash and his playstyle had never failed to show this. Whereas the General’s own was more subtle. The two play styles were nearly polar opposites, with the exception of their undeniable skill at the game.

Even if Iroh’s skill far surpassed Pakku’s own.

But Iroh had long since become accustomed to playing against someone with Pakku’s playstyle, as it was the norm in the Fire Nation to go for a brutal and swift victory against their opponent.

It spoke levels about how the war had affected his people’s approach to the game.

Even Zuko tended to play for the swift victory, even if his style was less brutal and had slowly begun to mirror Iroh’s own style of play. A sure-fire sign that his lessons and wisdom hadn’t been lost on the boy.

A style that was so uniquely Zuko.

Brash and risky, but often paying off against lesser players.

The two old men played in silence for some time, and in the end, Iroh was able to form a rather sizable harmony circle when he had taken Pakku’s white lily flower tile that had been blocking him from forming harmony with his white lotus tile.

“You have improved since we last played, but I am afraid that you still have much to learn my friend,” Iroh said with a smile finally breaking the silence, as he noticed the Avatar and his girlfriend watching from the other side of the deck.

Zuko and Sokka had also kept an eye on the game, but they had made their glances less obvious.

Pakku rolled his eyes and sighed, “I don’t understand how you always manage to pull off your impossible wins, Iroh. One day I will taste victory against you, however.”

“I eagerly look forward to that day. One learns just as much from their defeats as they do their victories,” Iroh answered.

Now the Avatar walked over to look at their board before asking with a big smile, “Do you mind if I play?”

Pakku scoffed, but Iroh studied the boy for a moment before stating cheekily, “I think you would find Master Pakku to be equally matched against yourself, my child.”

“Excuse me?!” The water bender squawked indignantly. “Avatar Aang is a child. He is not my equal in water bending let alone pai sho!”

Like an owl cat who’d trapped a meadow vole in a corner, Iroh had laid his trap.

“Oh… Is that so? Then maybe you would like to play against my nephew. He has gotten quite skilled at this game over the past few years.”

Zuko glared at him, but walked over and sat down at the table, as did Aang.

“I would be honored to play against you Master Pakku,” His nephew drawled calmly, before shooting a glance over at Sokka, who had come over to stand over the table and watch.

_So he wanted to show off for the wolf._

Pakku took the bait and grinned, as he answered, “The honor is all mine, Prince Zuko.”

Only Iroh and Sokka noticed the slight flinch Zuko gave at the word _prince._

Iroh wished that there was something he could do to erase what Zhao had done to the boy, but if everything went according to plan, then Zuko would never have to be called prince again. No one would be able to easily take advantage of Fire Lord Zuko, the same way that the vile beetle roach had attempted to.

“Guest makes the first move,” Pakku instructed foolishly.

Zuko made a show of studying over the flower tiles before him, before selecting his chrysanthemum flower tile and placing it into the gate closest to him on the board with a moment of false hesitance.

His nephew might not be able to lie to save his life, but the boy made an excellent actor. And Pakku bought the act of uncertainty that Zuko was selling him.

A quick glance at Sokka proved that the bond between the two betrayed the image of uncertainty that Zuko had dressed himself in if the puzzled look that had now made its home upon the Water Tribe Warrior’s face was anything to go by.

Zuko had begun by employing the Gates of Azulon strategy that the Fire Nation had come to favor in the past few decades, and from there it was a simple matter of battling against Pakku’s own tiles, while he quickly set up his own harmony circle while Pakku was focused on trying to protect his own harmonies he had formed on the board.

The match concluded once more with Pakku having lost.

“You are most certainly your uncle’s nephew,” The water bender concluded as he accepted his defeat before he allowed Aang to play against him.

This time he had won, even if just barely.

Sokka now spoke up, asking, “Would it be okay if I gave it a try?”

Pakku looked vaguely annoyed and stood up to allow Sokka to take his place at the table and asked, “Have you ever even played pai sho?”

“Nope, but I’m the plan guy and this game looks like something I’d enjoy.”

Zuko gave a small awkward smile at that before he said, “I can teach you if you’d like…”

And so Iroh watched as Zuko removed the tiles from the board and then arranged them in front of both himself and Sokka, as he placed a finger on each of the different tiles explaining their properties and how they were used in play. It was a heartwarming sight, and Iroh wished he could keep the world at this moment forever where his nephew was safe and happy.

But he knew that the moment wouldn’t last. So he designated himself to commit it to memory.

A decision he quickly tossed out the window when the game began and both boys selected the red rose tile as the one they began with.

Pakku looked up from the board and at the two boys in shock, before looking to Iroh for answers.

Answers Iroh didn’t believe it was his place to give.

But still, Zuko seemed to be taking his time to walk Sokka through the mechanics of the game slowly, like he was trying to prolong this moment for as long as he could. Almost like he was attempting to live in this moment forever.

And then he pushed his white jasmine tile slowly forward three spaces, instead of picking it up and placing it down back onto the board with the satisfying click that he normally did. Sokka’s eyes locked firmly on his nephew’s hand as he did.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later when Zuko claimed Sokka’s white jade with his orchid tile and ran his finger along the edge of the captured tile that Pakku fled the deck utterly scandalized by the blatantly and unintentionally sexual nature of the two’s pai sho game.

Iroh wanted to do the same but he had promised to give both his nephew and the warrior any pointers he thought would be relevant at the end of their game.

However Iroh reached his own breaking point when Sokka took Zuko’s white jasmine tile with his red rose, and his nephew’s eyes broke away from the board and went wide with sudden realization, as they met the warrior’s own.

Zuko opened his mouth to say something but must have thought better of it because not a moment later his jaw snapped shut as his face flushed with color. He actually looked mildly panicked, as he looked to Iroh for help.

How anyone could be terrified by realizing the person they harbored feelings for would have been something Iroh would have wondered if this was anyone but his nephew… After all that had happened up to this point in Zuko’s life however, the fear was to be expected.

After all, the only other person Zuko had fallen for was now dead and Iroh was sure that his nephew was blaming himself for that.

Lee Chen had been killed by the ice spear that Zuko had saved General Jee from.

It made sense that his nephew wasn’t yet ready to move onto a new relationship so soon after that loss. His heart needed to grieve his first love now lost.

He needed to heal.

Iroh decided to show Zuko mercy.

“Knowledge newly yielded is a still wet ink on blank parchment. One must be careful to allow the first lines of instruction to sink into that paper lest it smudges and becomes unreadable,” Uncle Iroh stated sagely, and Zuko’s face morphed into one of confusion.

That confusion was replaced with relief when Iroh added, “Sokka take what my nephew has taught you and think on it, while I work with him on his fire bending.”

Zuko looked away from Iroh and looked back to Sokka and gave a 30-degree bow, before rising from his seat and saying, “I look forward to our next game, Sokka. You learn quickly. Excuse me.”

Following that Zuko followed Uncle Iroh away from the pai sho table and to a clear spot on the deck where Iroh had decided to teach his nephew the bending form he hoped his nephew would never have to use.

One he would be naive to the realities of war and the nature of his younger brother to not teach Zuko. Because a man who grinned like a jackal lion as he publicly burned his own son’s face was the very kind of person who would try and kill that same child.

Ozai was a man who reveled in committing atrocities, just as their grandfather had when he had committed his genocide against an entire people in an event so horrible that the world had restricted their calendars to reflect it.

But first, he needed to teach Zuko how to bend lightning, so the feeling of cold fire racing through his chi paths wouldn’t feel foreign to him if he ever found himself on the other end of that deadly fire.

To not teach Zuko what lightning racing through his veins was would mean handing over his only living child over to the spirits far before his time and Iroh would never let that happen again.

This child was his the moment he had been born to a father who was more than happy to toss him aside at the first moment that Zuko had no longer served a purpose to him. And Iroh wasn’t going to let him go the same way he had allowed Lu Ten to slip through his fingers at the hands of his brother’s assassins.

Iroh would never forgive himself for not returning home to the Caldera that very day.

It was his fault that Ozai had been given the power to go forward with his plot to overthrow their father.

General Iroh wasn’t a fool. He knew that his brother had killed their father and if he had proof, Ozai would never have been allowed to serve as Fire Lord to their people. Because to kill the Fire Lord outside of an Agni Kai was to forfeit one’s claim to the throne.

There were a thousand things that Iroh should have done differently.

A thousand things that would have saved Zuko from everything that had happened since the man had ascended to the throne, and he would never forgive himself for that.

He turned to face his nephew and went deadly serious.

General Iroh began, “There is energy all around us…”

**To Be Continued in Book Two of Better Than Hunting An Absurd Notion...**


End file.
